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11-year-old Flagler student made second fake school shooting call, deputies say

Rymfire Elementary student faces charges

FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla – An 11-year-old Flagler County student was arrested on allegations of making another fake school shooting call, deputies said.

The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were informed about a possible shooting at Rymfire Elementary School on Tuesday after receiving a call from a student who said there was a shooter on campus and multiple shots had been fired.

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The call resulted in a massive response by FSCO and the Palm Coast and Flagler County Fire Rescue, and the school was placed in a Code Red lockdown, authorities said.

“I had 20 units respond, plus we had the fire department, paramedics, and then the school goes into lockdown,” Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said.

According to a news release, school officials told deputies they did not hear or see anything that matched the report of a school shooter. Deputies, however, searched the campus and found no proof that a shooting had occurred.

Investigators were able to identify the phone from which the 911 call was placed and found it belonged to a student who had been arrested on allegations of making another false school shooting claim in early September.

“This student has not learned that you cannot and should not make false reports,” Staly said in the news release. “We take all threats very seriously, and this ‘prank’ resulted in a massive response.”

The student was arrested and taken to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility.

“We’ve had 11 cases since August in our county,” Staly said.

The student was later released to her parents.

“This kid obviously that has done it twice now in seven weeks is clearly calling out for help or doesn’t understand the consequences of her actions,” Staly said.

Staly said the incident frustrates him.

“That is a lot of taxpayer money wasted and tied up a lot of resources,” he said.