A 33-year-old man charged with threatening to "slaughter staff and students" at five Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools campuses, including Ardrey Kell High School and Community House Middle School, walked out of the Mecklenburg County Jail on Saturday, Aug. 22, three days before students returned to class.

Drew Andres Owens was released at 11:30 a.m. after a professional surety posted a $60,000 bond, according to WSOC-TV. He is on electronic monitoring and has been ordered to stay away from all five schools.

Owens faces five felony counts of communicating a threat of mass violence on an educational property. A Mecklenburg County grand jury indicted him in March 2025, and he has pleaded not guilty.

The cases remain pending.

The threats

According to court affidavits reported by WBTV, Owens allegedly sent anonymous emails on Feb. 15, 2025, to principals and administrators at Ardrey Kell High School, Community House Middle School, West Charlotte High School and Hawk Ridge Elementary School. A separate threatening letter arrived at Garinger High School on Feb. 18, 2025.

The emails threatened mass shootings. The Garinger letter referenced a fictitious student and claimed she was armed with two shotguns and an AR-15 and planned to target Black students, Fox News Digital reported.

Owens' father, Darryl Owens, was the ROTC instructor at West Charlotte High School. He told police he believed his son sent the threats in retaliation for being kicked out of the family home in 2021 over drug and alcohol issues. Darryl Owens had previously obtained a restraining order against his son and attempted to have him involuntarily committed, but a judge declined to order a mental health evaluation.

Bond history

Owens' bond path has drawn scrutiny from parents. His initial bond was set at $10,000. After a February 2025 hearing where prosecutors revealed Owens was also wanted for failing to appear in court over a 2019 incident at the White House, a judge raised the combined bond to $200,000, according to WBTV. Fox News Digital, citing court records, reported the four-school case bond was set at $135,000 secured with electronic monitoring, while a separate $15,000 bond applied to the Garinger case.

Court records show the four-school case bond was reduced to $60,000 on May 1, 2026. No court record or official statement has explained why the judge reduced it.

One parent told WSOC-TV on Aug. 23: "He's clearly a public safety threat, so what took the threat level down?"

CMS response

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools said Owens has been banned from all CMS property and that any violation will result in immediate law enforcement action. The district said safety procedures and security measures at its schools will continue to be followed. CMS sent a letter to parents at Hawk Ridge Elementary notifying them of the situation.

Yolanda Trotman, an attorney and former Mecklenburg County judge, told WSOC-TV that bond reductions consider factors including community risk, flight risk, mental health and ability to pay. "Bond is not meant to be a punishment," Trotman said. "Bond is supposed to secure a person's return to court."

Security context

The CMS school year began Tuesday, Aug. 25, with more than 139,000 students returning across the district. Twelve days earlier, on Aug. 13, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Police Department hosted its inaugural School Resource Officer Conference, where more than 90 SROs trained on the district's Standard Response Protocol.

Owens' next court date has not been publicly announced. CMS said any violation of the property ban will trigger immediate law enforcement response.