Virginia Boy,11, Charged With Making Swatting Calls To Multiple Schools

A boy has been charged in Florida for making over 20 bomb and shooting threats targeting schools and other locations.

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During a press conference, Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly noted the importance of identifying the caller before the school year. He said the preteen’s behavior was “escalating” and “becoming more dangerous” due to the nature of the swatting calls. NBC Miami reported the initial threat to Flagler County emergency services on May 14, targeting Buddy Taylor Middle School. Additional threats followed between May 14 and May 22. Investigators also reported that the calls were traced to a Henrico County, Virginia, residence.

Local authorities searched the boy’s home earlier this month, where they learned he made calls to Florida and another threat to the Maryland State House after he confessed to his actions. Authorities reported that he made further swatting calls in Nebraska, Kansas, Tennessee, and Alaska. FOX35 reported that he was dared by a student and friend who is enrolled at the school to call in the bomb threats at Buddy Taylor Middle School and didn’t want to be seen as a punk by not making the call.

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The boy is facing 29 felony charges and 14 misdemeanors for the calls and is currently detained in a juvenile facility in Virginia while Florida officials coordinate his extraditions. Investigators also reported that the boy had attempted to delete multiple items from his phone. Sheriff Staly had a message for the boy’s friend, who dared him to make the call: “Go to your parents, tell them what you did, and turn yourself in because we will find you next.”

A similar incident involved a 13-year-old boy who was arrested in Florida in May, a few days after the initial call, for making a similar threat to Buddy Taylor Middle School.

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