JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — An eight-year-old boy went missing at Biltmore Elementary School on Monday. Once family members found out, they arrived at school where the situation escalated and got out of control, according to police reports.
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The entire family was frantic to find their little boy. When the child’s mom, dad, sister, and brother got to school, things got chaotic.
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The mom, Cierra Aikens says her eight-year-old son, Jacob Griffin, has been going to Biltmore Elementary since he was in VPK. She says he is a special needs student, so he requires a strict schedule.
Every day, his sister, Geniya Session, arrives to school 30 minutes early to pick him up at the carload zone. On Monday, he was not there. The principal told her they didn’t know where Jacob was.
“I was terrified,” Jacob’s sister, Geniya Session said. “I couldn’t even do anything. I was in shock. I was hyperventilating in a hallway.”
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That’s when the rest of the family came to the school campus searching for him. Aikens says she thought another person picked up her kid.
“I think my heart just fell into my stomach and I couldn’t do anything about it,” Aikens said.
She added on to say that she was confused of how this could happen.
“If they’re not given a three-digit code that’s attached to this child, this child he should not be in a car with anybody else.”
The dad, Andre Griffin arrived first on campus. He was very distraught, saying this is his only biological child.
As soon as he got on campus, he went straight to the principal’s office. When he asked Dr. Jones, the school principal, about where Jacob was, Griffin said her jaw dropped.
“And then when she did that, I just went into shock,” Griffin said. “I don’t remember.”
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The arrest reports reveal officers had received two calls -- one about a missing child and another about a “school alert threat.” It states that Dr. Jones activated the “assailant alarm” when Griffin came on campus. It states he “ran into the school yelling and cursing at everyone inside.” He then “went into the office and began throwing everything off the reception counter.” The report went on to say, “Mr. Griffin grabbed a metal folding chair and used it to hit the window and door to the office.”
So, the school went on lockdown. Griffin and Jacob’s brother, Julian Gibbs, were arrested.
Griffin said he was confused and beside himself.
“Why do you want to handcuff me and I’m the victim?” Griffin said. “My son is missing.”
But the lockdown delayed the search for Jacob. About two hours after Jacob was reported missing, the police found him at home.
Jacob told Action News Jax, “I went walking.”
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Due to his disability, he can’t communicate well. So, Aikens finds this hard to believe.
“This child has never walked home,” Aikens said. “When this child answers you, he answers in one or maybe two words sentences.”
Aikens says the uproar began when her son went missing. Now, she wants answers.
“We want kids to be protected and adults to take accountability on what they did wrong. And practice more safely when it comes to our children because we leave our children in the hands of you.”
The school district emailed a statement to Action News Jax saying, “We commend the staff for their proper reaction to both situations. We also commend school police for locating the child, and JSO for their intervention at the school.”
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Griffin and Gibbs’ court date is set for Sept. 19. And the family says they are seeking an attorney.
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