Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek closed the investigation into a confrontation at an Indiantown school bus stop Friday without filing charges, determining that a father who pulled a gun on two teenagers acted lawfully under Florida's Stand Your Ground law. The two teenagers involved dispute the sheriff's account and question why an armed adult came to confront juveniles at a bus stop.
The incident occurred Friday morning near Southwest 174th Court and Southwest 175th Court as students prepared to board a bus headed to South Fork High School. Budensiek said the father went to the bus stop after his 16-year-old son reported being bullied by a 14-year-old student on the bus the previous day. According to the sheriff, the initial dispute happened Thursday when the 16-year-old brought pizza onto the bus and the 14-year-old began asking for some, eventually threatening him and hitting him in the head after he refused.
Budensiek said Friday morning the 14-year-old got off the bus and confronted the father, and students on the bus called another 16-year-old to come to the scene. The sheriff said both teenagers approached the father despite repeated warnings to stay back. The father initially held his hand up and told the teenagers to stay back, then pulled out a concealed weapon and told them to get back, which he is legally allowed to do, Budensiek said.
Both teenagers backed away, the father put the gun away, and the confrontation ended. The father then drove around the corner, flagged down a deputy and immediately explained what happened.
RJ McIntyre and Trevor Ivory, the two teenagers who confronted the father, told a different version of events. McIntyre said he was called to the bus stop because someone said an old man was looking for him. He said the bus driver eventually told him and the father's son to get off the bus and they appeared ready to fight.
Ivory said he went to the bus stop because his younger brother called him and said a grown man was looking for somebody. Ivory said he told the father to let the two teenagers fight, then the father put his son behind him and pulled a gun. McIntyre said when he saw the gun he thought about whether he would make it home. Both teens put their hands up as they backed away.
McIntyre acknowledged he had interacted with the other student Thursday but disputed the sheriff's characterization of that interaction as bullying. He said he asked if he could buy a slice of pizza for a dollar and the student screamed in his face. McIntyre said he continued trying to talk to the student during the ride home and acknowledged using profanity.
McIntyre said no firearms should be displayed at a bus stop where there are children. The sheriff said the incident would not have happened if the 14-year-old had remained on the bus.
Budensiek said detectives spent the entire day Friday investigating the incident and interviewing students who were on the bus and the people involved. He said investigators would have sought warrants for the 14-year-old and the other 16-year-old who approached the father if the father had wanted to press charges. The father did not want to press charges and has since pulled his son out of school and plans to homeschool him.
The sheriff said the father is a security guard and was legally carrying a concealed firearm. Budensiek also criticized the spread of a partial video of the confrontation on social media, saying it did not show the entire context and created confusion in the community.