Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood called 54 fake threats 'absolutely out of control'
A Florida sheriff has called out parents and students after saying his agency spent nearly $21,000 investigating dozens of hoax school threats posted on social media in less than a day.
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood spoke Friday at a news conference alongside Volusia Public Schools officials, describing the situation as "absolutely out of control."
Chitwood said that 54 threats were reported to the Fortify Florida app, which allows citizens to report suspicious activity to law enforcement agencies, in less than 24 hours.
"That means investigators in the school district have been running around the clock to investigate these tips, which are all turning out to be false. So far, it's cost $21,000 to do these investigations," the sheriff said.
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Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said the investigation into the phony threats cost $21,000. (FOX35 Orlando WOFL)
Fox News Digital has reached out to the sheriff's office for more information about the cost of the investigations and how they will be paid.
A 13-year-old student and 14-year-old student at Heritage Middle School were arrested and charged with making written threats to kill, a felony, after allegedly posting about committing a school shooting on TikTok and Instagram. A possible third suspect is being investigated.
The two students arrested and charged attended Heritage Middle School. (FOX35 Orlando WOFL)
Chitwood said that law enforcement will "come after" parents of kids who make bogus school violence threats.
"Parents, you don't want to raise your kids, I'm going to start raising them," Chitwood said. "Every time we make an arrest, your kid's photo is going to be put out there. And if I could do it, I'm going to perp walk your kid so that everybody can see what your kid's up to."
Chitwood told parents "to raise your kids" or he'd start raising them himself by making their photos public. (eter Titmuss/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images, File)
The sheriff said that if a parent knew what their child was up to and did nothing, he'd make sure the parents would get perp-walked with their child.
"This is absolutely ridiculous," Chitwood said. "Go talk to the families who have lost a loved one in a school shooting. These little knuckleheads think it's funny. Go talk to those parents and see how funny this is. It's not."
The sheriff’s remarks come less than two weeks after a 14-year-old student shot and killed two 14-year-old students and two teachers at Apalachee High School near Atlanta.
