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Threats against a Captain Shreve High School senior that were posted on MySpace, a social networking Web site, led to an assault charge for a classmate.
Shreveport police charged Travis May, 17, with simple assault Monday. May is accused of posting a series of threats Friday night against Ryan Swindle on MySpace.
A friend alerted Swindle to the postings. Swindle's father, Carson Swindle, photographed the postings Friday night and Saturday morning to give to police. Swindle provided copies of the photos to The Times. The postings repeatedly refer to Ryan Swindle by name, and one includes his cell phone number.
"I will hunt you down with my whole click and murder you...." reads part of one posting. At the bottom of the same posting is "RIP Ryan Swindle."
Louisiana's cyberstalking law doesn't apply in this situation, because the person posting the messages didn't e-mail them to Ryan Swindle or send them to Swindle's MySpace page.
Instead, Shreveport police Sgt. Greg Jackson, Captain Shreve's school resource officer, decided the messages more closely fit the legal definition of simple assault.
That law defines assault as "an attempt to commit a battery, or the intentional placing of another in reasonable apprehension of receiving a battery."
A simple assault conviction carries a fine of up to $200, up to 90 days in jail, or both. A cyberstalking conviction carries a fine of up to $2,000, a jail term of up to one year, or both.
Carson Swindle said his son and May were friends in elementary and middle school but ran into problems while playing baseball at Captain Shreve last year. Swindle said May seems to blame Ryan Swindle for an alleged fight between May and a Caddo Magnet High School student over the summer.
Gerry May, Travis May's father, said he hopes the two families can work out the situation but declined other comment.
"I will hunt you down with my whole click and murder you...."
Now that's gangsta...
Shreveport police charged Travis May, 17, with simple assault Monday. May is accused of posting a series of threats Friday night against Ryan Swindle on MySpace.
A friend alerted Swindle to the postings. Swindle's father, Carson Swindle, photographed the postings Friday night and Saturday morning to give to police. Swindle provided copies of the photos to The Times. The postings repeatedly refer to Ryan Swindle by name, and one includes his cell phone number.
"I will hunt you down with my whole click and murder you...." reads part of one posting. At the bottom of the same posting is "RIP Ryan Swindle."
Louisiana's cyberstalking law doesn't apply in this situation, because the person posting the messages didn't e-mail them to Ryan Swindle or send them to Swindle's MySpace page.
Instead, Shreveport police Sgt. Greg Jackson, Captain Shreve's school resource officer, decided the messages more closely fit the legal definition of simple assault.
That law defines assault as "an attempt to commit a battery, or the intentional placing of another in reasonable apprehension of receiving a battery."
A simple assault conviction carries a fine of up to $200, up to 90 days in jail, or both. A cyberstalking conviction carries a fine of up to $2,000, a jail term of up to one year, or both.
Carson Swindle said his son and May were friends in elementary and middle school but ran into problems while playing baseball at Captain Shreve last year. Swindle said May seems to blame Ryan Swindle for an alleged fight between May and a Caddo Magnet High School student over the summer.
Gerry May, Travis May's father, said he hopes the two families can work out the situation but declined other comment.
"I will hunt you down with my whole click and murder you...."
Now that's gangsta...