DELTONA, Fla. – A 13-year-old and a 14-year-old were arrested in Volusia County, accused of posting threats on TikTok and Instagram to commit a shooting at their school, the latest in a string of online threats and rumors across Central Florida in the last few days.
The students both attend Heritage Middle School in Deltona, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office. One was arrested Thursday night and the other Friday morning.
“We will chase you down and find you. Stop doing it,” said Volusia County School District Chief of Staff Josh Cash.
The arrests come after Heritage Middle was put on lockdown Thursday after a report of a student possibly seeing someone with a weapon near the school’s campus.
Sheriff Mike Chitwood and the Volusia County School District had a strong message to those abusing Fortify Florida and sending in false tips about school gun threats.
“We’re not telling you if you see something don’t say something. What we’re saying is the (expletive) has got to stop. That’s the same tip over and over again,” said Sheriff Chitwood.
This comes after they received more than 54 tips for school gun threats since last night Sheriff Chitwood says all were untrue.
“If you post a threat to shoot up a school, our job is to ID you and track you down. You can say you’re just joking, playing around, looking for attention - you’re going to have a felony to show for it,” Sheriff Mike Chitwood said in a post on X.com Friday.
Please read the thread and take home the message. If you post a threat to shoot up a school, our job is to ID you and track you down. You can say you're just joking, playing around, looking for attention - you're going to have a felony to show for it https://t.co/JRKbHYF2ke
— Mike Chitwood (@SheriffChitwood) September 13, 2024
Chitwood said there have been 207 threats that have come in this year and it cost them around $21,000 to do an investigation on each tip.
“The curriculum is built so that kids get their education based on the number of hours that they’re in school so we’re shutting down our schools to try to protect the kids because some kids made a false tip. It’s interrupting their ability to learn,” said Volusia County School District Director of Safety and Security Captain Todd Smith.
In addition to criminal charges, Florida law allows law enforcement to charge the parents of a juvenile suspect for the costs associated with the investigation. The sheriff’s office says these investigations are a drain on resources.
Parents are being urged to talk to their children about the severity of the consequences if they make threats, even fake ones, against a school.
Officials say they’re also working on new ways to track down weapons at school even using a canine to smell and detect guns and ammo at local schools.
Reports of school threats on social media have spiked this week across Central Florida.
Seminole County’s school superintendent and sheriff issued a similar joint statement on Thursday evening amid reports of school threat rumors on social media. One person was arrested for online threats made against Seminole High School in Sanford Thursday.
On Wednesday a student was taken into custody after an unloaded gun was found at Lake Brantley High School in Altamonte Springs.
Brevard Public Schools also sent a letter home to families Thursday regarding reports online of potential threats to its schools. The reports were found not to be credible.
In Orange County, two students were arrested at Boone High School when a gun was found on campus Friday. Additional law enforcement were also dispatched to a middle school in Maitland because of social media threats.
All of this comes after a fatal shooting at a school in Georgia last week.
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