No prison time for student who threatened to shoot up Brownsburg High School, kill police officer

BROWNSBURG, Ind. — A Rwandan refugee previously enrolled at Brownsburg High School who threatened to “shoot 1,000 students” and kill a police officer will spend no time in prison after taking a plea deal this week.

Merci Habimana was arrested over the summer by the Brownsburg Police Department after the local high school received violent threats over Instagram. This came just 10 days after BPD had arrested him for minor consumption of alcohol and intimidation of an officer.

The 18-year-old will spend no time in prison for these crimes after pleading guilty to two counts of intimidation and one count of a minor possessing alcohol. Instead, Habimana will spend the next 480 days on probation.

Threatening police

BPD officers were called on May 20 to an apartment complex on Rothchild Place for a welfare check. A caller reported to 911 that a male was lying in his car with the doors open and was throwing up.

Upon arrival, officers found Habimana in the driver’s seat of a red Ford Focus with the doors propped open and a bottle of Christian Brothers Brandy visible. The officer, who saw vomit outside the car, reportedly had to nudge the male for him to come to.

The male, later identified as Habimana, said he lived nearby and showed officers his license. While searching his car, BPD said they found two bottles of Stella Artois beer and various beverage caps. The car had a flat front tire and no keys in the ignition.

During a breath test, BPD said Habimana blew a .33 despite giving what police called a “mediocre blow.” He was detained for minor consumption of alcohol.

As officers began handcuffing Habimana, he reportedly became “belligerent” and tried to pull away. Once placed inside a squad car, BPD said Habimana claimed he was only being arrested because he was Black and began threatening an officer and his family.

“He stated when he got out he was going to find us,” an officer wrote. “At one point I believed to hear him say he was going to kill me but due to his accent, it was hard to understand. He also stated he would grab my gun.”

Habimana was eventually taken to the Hendricks County Jail and booked on felony intimidation and minor alcohol charges.

‘I wish to shoot 1,000 students’

A week later, on May 28, court documents show that the principal at Brownsburg High School told Habimana he would be held back as a Junior and not graduate with the class of 2025.

Then, around 6 p.m. that night, one of BHS’ official Instagram accounts received messages from an account named “unknown_202473774.”

“I wanna kill three of see u,” the post read. “Fc bhs I hate you all maybe 1 day in dis week I wish to shoot 1000 students before they going in summer break see you gloom Sunday.”

The note was accompanied by three emojis depicting the “theatrical tragedy/comedy” mask.

Brownsburg Community School Police officials were made aware of the threat and soon contacted BPD to handle the threat investigation.

Investigating Habimana

BPD began requesting account information from Meta, the parent company of Instagram. Eventually, after several data requests to different companies, police were able to place Habimana as the owner of the account.

Court documents show that, in addition to the police intimidation arrest, Habimana has been a part of several BPD runs between December 2023 and May 2024.

One of the runs for a simple assault listed Habimana as an involved party and stated he was a sophomore at BHS. Another run stated that Habimana’s home language is Swahili-Tanzania and that he is a Rwandan refugee.

After identifying Habimana as the suspect, BPD began surveilling the 18-year-old while they awaited search warrants. Once Habimana arrived at his apartment, police made contact and searched his phone.

Admission

During an interview at BPD headquarters, court documents show Habimana admitted to being angry and upset over being held back. He also admitted to police he was the one who posted on Instagram threatening to shoot Brownsburg students.

“I then read it aloud and he explained what [the message] meant,” police said. “He said that he was angry over what happened to him. He advised me that he had no intentions of hurting anyone.”

Due to him being 18, Habimana was charged as an adult with “intimidation with threat of a forcible felony” and taken to the Hendricks County Jail. Court records show he was also trespassed by Brownsburg School Police from all school property.

Plea deal

Habimana took a Hendricks County Court plea deal on Tuesday, Sept. 17, where he agreed to two Felony 6 intimidation charges and one Misdemeanor C minor consuming alcohol charge.

As a result, Habimana was sentenced to 720 days in the County Jail. However, 480 days of the sentence were suspended by the court and Habimana was given 120 days of jail credit and 120 days of good time credit. The result is no jail time for the 18-year-old.

Instead, Habimana was ordered to spend the next 480 days on probation in Hendricks County.

Other Indy-area school threat arrests

Since Habimana’s arrest over the summer, the Indianapolis area has been plagued with many school threats.

State Police announced last Friday that troopers from the Indianapolis Post arrested two juveniles – ages 12 and 15 – for allegedly making school threats this week. ISP said that the Indy Post investigated three different reported school threats this week, one of which was false.

Last Thursday, police in Richmond arrested a 14-year-old after the FBI reported the student was making threats against the high school on Snapchat.

Earlier this month, Marion police arrested two juveniles accused of making online threats at two local schools. Last Tuesday, police arrested a student for allegedly making online threats at an unspecified school within the Warren Township Metropolitan School District.

Two weeks ago, Anderson police arrested a student who allegedly threatened to bring a gun to class. Indiana State Police also arrested a Perry Meridian student for making alleged threats.

20+ school threat arrests across the state

These issues have not only been prominent in central Indiana.

Two 11-year-old students were arrested this week by Evansville police for allegedly making online threats against local middle schools.

Last Thursday, a 7th-grade student in Jeffersonville was arrested for making threats against two local middle schools. The 12-year-old now faces felony charges.

Throughout last week, at least seven juvenile students have been arrested in Terre Haute for making threats throughout the Vigo County School Corporation.

In Gibson County, sheriff’s deputies say a juvenile was arrested last Thursday after allegedly making threatening statements.

In northwest Indiana, the Jasper County Sheriff confirmed on social media charges have been filed against one student for threats made to a middle school. Portage police said that their department is investigating made to local schools and that they are “seeking charges.”

Combining these arrests with those from central Indiana, the total number of Hoosier students arrested for threats this school year has reached at least 20.

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