11-year-old accused of swatting, calling in 20-plus bomb threats to Florida schools

An 11-year-old Virginia boy has been arrested and charged with making more than 20 bomb or shooting threats to a series of Florida schools.

Flagler County Sherriff’s Department officials said the arrest followed a 10-week investigation into the threats, which were made over a 9-day period in May.

“This kid’s behavior was escalating and becoming more dangerous. I’m glad we got him before he escalated out of control and hurt someone,” Flagler County Sherriff Rick Staly said in a statement on July 25.

According to officials, Flagler County emergency services received a bomb threat on May 14 directed towards Buddy Taylor Middle School. Over the next nine days, 20 more calls were made towards Buddy Taylor and four other Flagler County schools — First Baptist Christian Academy, Flagler Palm Coast High School, Old Kings Elementary School, and Suncoast Community School. The calls referenced bombs had been planted, threatened to commit mass shootings, and claimed to have shot students and teachers at the schools.

What is swatting?Why politicians are being targeted by the potentially deadly stunt.

Law enforcement officials tracked the calls to a home in Virginia, where the 11-year-old admitted to placing the “swatting type calls” to Florida, as well as a similar threat made to the Maryland State House. The child told police that he “used methods he had learned online” to try and hide his identity and that he had devised the script for the calls alone.

The child faces 28 felony and 14 misdemeanor charges and is currently being held in a juvenile detention facility in Virginia while transportation to Florida is arranged.

Swatting

“Swatting” is the practice of making phony calls with threats of violence such as a bomb, a hostage situation, or a shooting to trigger a law enforcement response. The targets of these calls have ranged from schools and businesses to politicians as well as individuals.

According to the Educator’s Safety Network, a false report of an active shooter accounted for 64% of all reported violent incidents in American schools during the 2022-2023 school year.  That organization also reported that false reports have increased 546% from the 2018-2019 school year, with 446 incidents being reported.

Flagler County officials noted that the 11-year-old was the second child to be arrested for making threats towards local schools this year.

A 13-year-old was arrested by the Daytona Beach Police Department and Volusia County Sherriff’s Office in May for calling the front desk of Buddy Taylor Middle School and making a bomb threat in what was described by law enforcement officials as a copycat incident.

Max Hauptman is a Trending Reporter for USA TODAY. He can be reached at MHauptman@gannett.com