ORLANDO, Fla. – A trio of school threat hoaxes in a five-day-span has law enforcement officers and parents frustrated.
- Jan. 8: Lake Brantley High School, a potential threat forced the school into a code red.
- Jan. 9: Seminole County Public Schools, a masked individual made a generic video threat to schools, causing a subsequent drop in attendance.
- Jan. 12: Lake Minneola High School, bomb threat prompts a school lockdown.
Each of these threats was determined by law enforcement to be a hoax, but not before countless agencies, including local police and fire, raced to the scene to respond.
“We take each threat seriously,” said Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly. Although his county wasn’t impacted recently, he’s no stranger to them and emphasizes the massive ripple effect from hoax calls.
[WATCH: Fake school threats in Florida: How detectives track down callers]
When his county is impacted, he said, “Homeland security, Criminal Intelligence, Sovereign Crimes Unit, and K9 Units can be called in. It requires massive resources. Not to mention the impact on motorists because officers are trying to get to that scene as soon as possible.”
According to Staly, a single threat can cost upwards of $10,000 between the immediate personnel response and the subsequent investigation.
Rico Sharp says it’s also a trauma trigger. “It takes me back to that day. It’s like pulling a scab off a wound trying to heal. I just really went numb. I’m like, this can’t be happening. Not here. Not now.”
Sharp’s son was a high schooler at Lake Mary in 2019 when he got a terrifying automated message about a shooting threat.
Ultimately, a 17-year-old student took her own life at the school. For Sharp, school threats, even years later, are a reminder of that painful day, and he says hoaxes are even more harmful.
“Where there is smoke, there will potentially be fire,” said Sharp, who has since taken a proactive approach to school violence prevention, creating an entire curriculum called Breaking the Silence, Stopping Gun Violence. It’s designed to help facilitate important conversations around school threats.
[WATCH: Seminole County threatening messages leave parents, school district flustered]
Sharp added his curriculum offers additional support for both educators, students, and families to address mental health, along with the root causes of both fake and legitimate threats.
“There are warning signs. Students become withdrawn...and if it starts in the home, it can end in the home,” Sharp said.
Additionally, data shows incessant school violence threats erode credibility with the public, and waste taxpayer dollars, while students skip school out of fear. It also traumatizes affected communities.
Because of that, Sheriff Staly reminds the community, regardless of the reason, whether it’s a cry for attention or a deeper issue, threats must be taken seriously.
“If you tell us this was just a joke, too late. It’s not funny. You’re going to get handcuffs on, fingerprinted.... your mugshot’s going to be taken. You’re held accountable,” Staly said.