WINONA, Texas — A Smith County teen was recently sentenced to five years in prison after he pleaded guilty to making threats of a school shooting in 2021 while he was a student at Winona High School.
Tyler Auston Tate, 18, entered a guilty plea to terroristic threat on April 6 in the 7th District Court, according to online judicial records. He was then sentenced to five years in prison.
Tate, who was 17 at the time, was arrested on Dec. 9, 2021 for accusations of threatening a school shooting and also having a "death note," according to the Smith County Sheriff's Office and arrest documents.
He had previously been declared incompetent to stand trial in June 2022. That order stated there would be some probability that the teen will reach competency in the future. He was ordered to receive treatment at a hospital that provides mental health services.
However, according to court records, a letter dated April 5 from the Smith County District Attorney's Office said the state and a doctor did not oppose Judge Kerry Russell finding that Tate is "presently competent to stand trial."
Through an investigation from an anonymous tip, the FBI Tyler Division and Smith County Sheriff’s Office learned Tate had to wear a clear backpack out of concern from his previous actions toward students.
According to an arrest affidavit, students feared he would bring a weapon to school and harm them.
The affidavit stated Tate said to police he had a death book for people who had been "bullying" him and he would write “dark matter, equations, notes cryptozoology and assignments.”
Students reported to school administration that he said if he wore a yellow shirt to school it meant he was going to “shoot up the school,” according to the affidavit.
The student later denied the shirt comments to the staff. The next day after the comments and two days after a school shooting in Michigan, he wore a sweatshirt with yellow draw strings, which scared some students, the affidavit read.
He was asked to change and returned with a shirt that had a yellow logo. Administrators asked him to turn the shirt inside out.
A high school staff member said she saw Tate drawing a picture and that he said, “I have to draw the dead white girl,” instead of doing his schoolwork, the affidavit read.
Tate said to police he never threatened to take a gun to school and did not have intentions of shooting up the school, the affidavit read.