VIDEO: 11-Year-Old-Child From Virginia Arrested for Making 20 False Swatting Calls, Bomb Threats and Other Bogus Phone Calls; Terrorizes Florida for 3 Weeks
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FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla -- // Video Courtesy of Fox 35 Orlando --
An eleven-year-old from Virginia is under arrest and sitting in juvenile detention tonight, accused of terrorizing the entire community. The sheriff of Volusia County says the boy made o2 dozen fake, phony and bogus 911 calls, bomb threats, to mass shooting threats.
On Thursday, Flagler Sheriff Rick Staly said an 11-year-old living in Virginia was responsible for them all with the exception of one copycat. All of this causing havoc, panic and concern during the last 3 weeks of the school year.
According to the sheriff, the first "Swatting" call came in on May 14. The caller reported that there was a bomb at Buddy Taylor Middle School, which prompted a massive law enforcement response from different various policing agencies.
JULY
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2024
"Juvenile Terrorist" - Flagler Sheriff Rick Staly
"Swatting" is when someone calls in a threat, usually saying something serious is going to happen — like a shooting or bombing. The call triggers a massive law enforcement response, including from other agencies, a special rapid response team and several SWAT teams, a law enforcement source tells The Blake Moia show.
At the news conference, the Sheriff of Volusia called the 11-year-old a "Juvenile Terrorist", and after the 14th hoax, he made more than 20 additional bogus phone calls.
One call made said he had just shot a teacher in the head. Another call was threating to blow up a school and shoot students.
"Think of this, an 11-year-old creating all this chaos and mayhem in our community. You're about to learn he's done a lot more," Staly said.
The threats caused officials to beef up security, cause massive disruptions and even made some parents keep their children home for the remainder of the school year.
"I believe that we will read about him committing more serious and probably violent crimes in the future," Staly said.
The Investigation Into The 11-Year-Old
With help from multiple agencies, including the FBI, and other Federal Law Enforcement, The FCSO was able to identify a person of interest in this case. It's an 11-year-old boy not even residing in Florida.
After the first couple of calls came in, investigators began to look into the nature of the calls.
Investigators were able to track the calls to a home in Henrico County, Va., just outside Richmond. Detectives traveled to Henrico County and with the help of local deputies, they obtained a warrant and searched the home this month. The 11-year-old boy who lived there admitted to placing the Florida swatting calls, as well as a threat made to the Maryland State House, authorities said.
Authorities later determined that the boy also made swatting calls to Nebraska, Kansas, Alabama, Tennessee and Alaska.
While there, detectives interviewed the child's family, who said he was a "weird" kid with an infatuation with the internet. The 11-year-old's brother told authorities the child had a "dark side" and looked at disturbing material while he was online.
Through interviews with the child and online evidence, Sheriff Staly said officials were able to determine the child was very interested in violent material such as videos depicting animal cruelty, decapitation, and murder pornography.
The FBI says the child is behind "swatting" calls in numerous different states and would oftentimes be paid in cryptocurrency to make the calls for other people. Authorities say he targeted Flagler County because he knew someone in his online group chat attended school there.
The child was taken into custody on July 19 in Virginia and authorities are still trying to figure out how to get the child to Florida to face all these serious charges. Authorities say he is in "secure detention" at a juvenile lock up facility in Virginia awaiting to be taken to Florida where he faces at least 14 serious "Felony charges for making a bomb threat", the Sheriff says.
It is not clear if the child will be tried as an adult here in Florida. There are more states that want the boy to face a judge for his crimes as well. It is unclear what his legal status is in those states.
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