Parents question notification timeline of stabbing threat at Tampa school

TAMPA, Fla. - Students saw extra security at Bellamy Elementary Wednesday morning, one day after parents were informed Andrew Aman made a threat to stab their children.

His roommate called police about the alleged plot Monday morning.

"Aman's roommate heard Aman making comments, threatening comments to Bellamy Elementary that he intended to go there with a kitchen knife from their home and use it to harm both students and staff," said Crystal Clark with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

But Aman's plan went nowhere. Responding deputies ultimately took the 22-year-old into custody for mental health evaluation under Florida's Baker Act.

"After talking to him, deputies said it was pretty clear he was suffering from a few different mental illnesses," Clark said. "He'd been diagnosed in the past, so the best move for them was to take him in for mental evaluation."

Investigators contacted the school district's chief of security by Monday afternoon, but some parents questioned why they weren't informed until Tuesday night.

"When the initial threat happened, they should have made the parents more aware," said parent Samantha King. "That's something they should have sent out then."

"You think of the what-ifs and the what could have happened," said Mike Defreitas, another parent.

The school district says it was letting the detectives finish their investigation before notifying parents.

"We have to make sure we communicate with families as quickly as possible, but we want to make sure we have all of the details to give to our families," said Tanya Arja of Hillsborough schools.

Aman is no stranger to law enforcement. In May 2018, he was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. According to the arrest affidavit, Aman got into a verbal altercation with an employee at a Sprouts grocery store and tried to enter an unauthorized area where knives were kept. The altercation turned into a physical fight, and Aman allegedly tried to injure the employee with a broken coffee cup.

But Aman later filed letters to attend a diversion program, and the state dropped the charges.

Arja says she's glad it was taken care of swiftly.

"To hear something like this is very concerning for parents, and for the district. We are grateful the Sheriff's office immediately investigated this and was able to take this person into custody, so he never made it to our campuses," she said.

According to the sheriff's office, Aman remains in custody at a mental health facility. They say it's an ongoing evaluation process and there is no set amount of days that he's being held.