The principal of an Arizona elementary school is being accused of bullying a student after threatening the boy with expulsion over "highly disturbing" drawings that turned out to be Halloween costume ideas.

According to CBS5, the eight-year-old was called into a meeting with the headmaster at Scottsdale Country Day School over pictures he drew that depicted a ninja, a soldier, and "Star Wars character" — three things the boy wanted to be for Halloween.

"In this situation, it's actually the principal of the school who bullied the parents - so much that we couldn't even be safe in that environment," said the boy's father, Jeff, who removed his son from the school shortly after the meeting.

According to Jeff, in addition to the drawings he was also shown excerpts from his son's journal, in which "violent and unacceptable" words were highlighted.

They included this passage from a short story about a haunted school being attacked by killer zombies: "I'd open the window, but, stand back quickly. Booby-trapped. Shoot the gadget - a rope gun - I'd swing across without getting hit."

Jeff said the last straw was when the headmaster claimed the presence of his son made it impossible to guarantee the safety of the other students

"I think we really send our children the wrong message when we show that, as adults, we're so afraid of our shadow that an innocent picture - that any 8-year-old might've drawn - is cause for this kind of concern," Jeff told KPHO.

Despite the third grader having no history of violence, the school has a zero tolerance policy towards "drawings that depict weapons," which are considered "grounds for expulsion."

[screengrab via KPHO]