The Polk County Sheriff's Office in Florida has arrested 24 public school students for allegedly making written or online threats since the start of the school year, authorities said.
Polk County Schools Superintendent Fred Hyde announced the shocking number of arrests at a press conference Thursday, just weeks after the deadly shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia.
“The students will be arrested. They will be charged with a second-degree felony,” Hyde said at a news conference. FOX 13 Tampa“And from a district perspective, we will pursue maximum outcomes for students and non-student members of our community who call or who post anything online or on social media or in email.”
Hyde said he will seek criminal charges against the students who made the threats against the school, and the district will seek compensation for the time and resources spent investigating the threats.
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Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd and Polk County Schools Superintendent Fred Hyde announced Thursday that 24 students have been arrested for writing threatening messages since the start of the school year. (Polk County Schools/YouTube)
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd joined Hyde at the news conference and said 42 arrests had been made in connection with students making written threats against county schools during the 2023-24 school year.
In just 28 days so far this year, the Polk County Sheriff's Office has arrested 24 people.
“That's why we're standing here today,” Judd said, “because we can't let this happen any more.”
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Authorities said Thursday that 24 students have been arrested for writing threatening messages online since the start of the new semester. (iStock)
Judd praised Fortify Florida, an app that allows students to instantly report suspicious activity to law enforcement and school officials.
FOX 13 reported Hyde explained why he believes there have been so many recent threats.
“Unfortunately, I think a lot of students think that social media is a good place to get attention,” the superintendent said. “Like the sheriff said, we do more investigations and threat assessments than other schools because we don't lower our expectations.”
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Florida law enforcement and school officials announced Thursday that 24 students have been arrested for writing threatening messages online since the start of the school year. (iStock)
The sheriff agreed with Hyde, adding that some kids follow the latest trends on social media.
“It all comes down to a TikTok challenge, and if you follow the challenge, you're going to get jailed on TikTok, and that's the whole point,” Judd said. “The vast majority of kids say, 'That's stupid. I'm not going to do it.' But then a few kids say, 'I'm stupid. I'm going to try it.' And then we arrest them.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the school district.
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Yet, instead of talking about proactive measures, doing nothing would have tragic consequences.
“I would much rather be here today talking about this than say, 'Sheriff, school board, superintendent, you guys did nothing and this kid was sending messages for months and months and now he brings a gun to school, shoots up a school, shoots kids at school,'” Judd said.
