VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood announced Thursday that students who make threats against schools -- even if it's determined to be a joke -- will have to pay the cost of his agency's response to the incident.
Chitwood said the students also face charges.
He said the students or their families will be responsible for at least $1,082 per incident. The Sheriff's Office said in some cases, the cost could be much higher, depending on the resources required.
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Four more students were charged Thursday with making threats of violence or false statements about guns at Volusia County schools, making a total of 15 facing these types of charges since the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, officials said.
Officials released information about those who were charged Thursday:
- One of the offenders was described by officials as a 14-year-old Creekside Middle School student who allegedly said he was going to be the next school shooter, and that he was going to do it soon. The male student was also reported to have told another student on his school bus that he was going to shoot him. The comments were made on Feb. 16 and reported to a deputy Thursday.
- Another offender was identified as a female student at Deltona High School. She allegedly held her hands in a gun gesture, tapped a school employee on the shoulder and said, "Bang, bang." That incident happened on Tuesday, but another similar incident happened Wednesday afternoon. After another employee advised the same student had done the same thing to him, the incidents were reported to a deputy.
- Another student is a 15-year-old male Deltona High School student who told a teacher he had a concealed weapon in his backpack, but no weapon was found.
- The fourth student being charged is a 17-year-old male New Smyrna Beach High School student who used a piece of paper with a handgun and a bomb drawn on it to pretend he was shooting another student during class. The student told the deputy he was only joking.
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