Amid a recent spike of false school shooting threats, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood warns students and parents he won’t hesitate to publicly share information and mugshots of any offender regardless of age.
Chitwood said in a press conference Friday that at least 54 tips from suspicious activity reporting app Fortify Florida had come in the night before. He said the dozens of threats received recently turned out to be fake, though the agency had spent extensive time and resources attempting to investigate them.
Chitwood says his office has spent around $21,000 investigating the tips. He warned parents that "somebody will be paying this bill.”
"This is absolutely out of control and ends now," Chitwood said. "Since parents, you don't want to raise your kids, I'm gonna start raising them."
Chitwood said he would not hesitate to post the name, photo and information of students arrested for making threats going forward. He also threatened that his deputies would “perp walk” students taken into custody.
“If I can in any way find out that a parent knew what was going on and wasn’t doing anything, your ass is getting perp-walked with ’em.”
This sharp increase in online threats and rumors in Florida schools comes in the wake of the fatal mass shooting at Georgia’s Apalachee High School on Sept. 4 by a 14-year-old student. Two students and two teachers were killed, nine others were non fatally injured and hospitalized.
Chitwood said that there have been a total of 207 threats of violence in Volusia County schools so far this year, and 11 reported weapons that have been brought on school grounds. Seven people have been arrested for making written threats to kill.
Two individuals were in custody at the time of the conference, Chitwood said. The sheriff's office posted on social media on Sept. 16 they additionally arrested an 11-year-old boy from Creekside Middle School.
The student allegedly made threats to commit a school shooting at Creekside or Silver Sands Middle School, and is facing a felony charge for a written threat of a mass shooting. Deputies discovered a written list of names and targets, along with a stockpile of Airsoft rifles, pistols, fake ammunition, knives, swords and numerous other weapons.
The boy claims it was all a joke, according to a post on Chitwood’s Facebook page. Chitwood posted the boy’s full name and photo, as well as a video of the boy, in handcuffs, being walked from a patrol vehicle into a station. An officer is seen placing cuffs on his ankles and ushering the boy into a cell.
Chitwood warned parents to “do [their] job.”
“Go talk to the families who have lost a loved one in a school shooting,” he said. “These little knuckleheads think it’s funny? Go talk to those parents and see how funny this is.”
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Chitwood said in a press conference Friday that at least 54 tips from suspicious activity reporting app Fortify Florida had come in the night before. He said the dozens of threats received recently turned out to be fake, though the agency had spent extensive time and resources attempting to investigate them.
Chitwood says his office has spent around $21,000 investigating the tips. He warned parents that "somebody will be paying this bill.”
"This is absolutely out of control and ends now," Chitwood said. "Since parents, you don't want to raise your kids, I'm gonna start raising them."
Chitwood said he would not hesitate to post the name, photo and information of students arrested for making threats going forward. He also threatened that his deputies would “perp walk” students taken into custody.
“If I can in any way find out that a parent knew what was going on and wasn’t doing anything, your ass is getting perp-walked with ’em.”
This sharp increase in online threats and rumors in Florida schools comes in the wake of the fatal mass shooting at Georgia’s Apalachee High School on Sept. 4 by a 14-year-old student. Two students and two teachers were killed, nine others were non fatally injured and hospitalized.
Chitwood said that there have been a total of 207 threats of violence in Volusia County schools so far this year, and 11 reported weapons that have been brought on school grounds. Seven people have been arrested for making written threats to kill.
Two individuals were in custody at the time of the conference, Chitwood said. The sheriff's office posted on social media on Sept. 16 they additionally arrested an 11-year-old boy from Creekside Middle School.
The student allegedly made threats to commit a school shooting at Creekside or Silver Sands Middle School, and is facing a felony charge for a written threat of a mass shooting. Deputies discovered a written list of names and targets, along with a stockpile of Airsoft rifles, pistols, fake ammunition, knives, swords and numerous other weapons.
The boy claims it was all a joke, according to a post on Chitwood’s Facebook page. Chitwood posted the boy’s full name and photo, as well as a video of the boy, in handcuffs, being walked from a patrol vehicle into a station. An officer is seen placing cuffs on his ankles and ushering the boy into a cell.
Chitwood warned parents to “do [their] job.”
“Go talk to the families who have lost a loved one in a school shooting,” he said. “These little knuckleheads think it’s funny? Go talk to those parents and see how funny this is.”
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