Florida
Two dozen Florida school students arrested after allegedly making threats since start of academic year
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office in Florida has arrested 24 public school students since the beginning of the academic year, for alleged written or online threats, according to authorities.
Polk County School District Superintendent Fred Heid announced the shocking number of arrests during a news conference Thursday, just weeks after a fatal shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia.
“Students will be arrested. They will be charged with a second-degree felony,” Heid said during the news conference covered by FOX 13 Tampa. “And from the school district’s perspective, we will pursue the fullest extent of the consequences for any student or any non-student member of our community who phones these in or posts something online or social media or email.”
Along with seeking criminal charges for students who make threats towards schools, Heid said the school district will seek restitution for any time and resources spent investigating the threats.
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Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd joined Heid during the news conference, and said there were 42 arrests made during the 2023-24 school year in which students made written threats against county schools.
So far this year, in just 28 days, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office has made 24 arrests.
“That’s why we’re all standing up here today,” Judd said. “Because we can’t have any more of that.”
GEORGIA HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTING: SUSPECT’S FORMER NEIGHBORS RECOUNT HARROWING STORIES OF ALLEGED ABUSE, CHAOS
Judd praised the app, Fortify Florida, which gives students the ability to immediately report suspicious activity to law enforcement agencies and school officials.
FOX 13 reported that Heid provided an explanation on why he believes there have been so many threats recently.
“I think, unfortunately, many of our students believe that social media is an appropriate place for them to try to garner attention,” the superintendent said. “As the sheriff put it, we investigate, and we complete more threat assessments than several others do because we do not diminish the expectation.”
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The sheriff echoed Heid, adding that some kids go with the latest social media trends.
“We end up with these TikTok challenges; well we’ll TikTok you to jail if you follow those challenges. That’s the bottom line to it,” Judd said. “The overwhelming majority of the kids go, ‘Well that’s nuts, and I’m not going to do it.’ But a few of the kids say, ‘I’m nuts, and I’m gonna to do it,’ and then, we’re going to arrest them.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the school district.
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Still, the alternative to speaking about proactive measures would be the tragic result of not doing anything.
“I would much rather be standing here talking about this today than you saying, ‘Sheriff, school board, superintendent, you did nothing, and this kid’s been sending messages for months? And now he’s brought a gun to school and shot the school or shot up a kid at school,’” Judd said.
Florida
Playhouse blown down Florida beach as Hurricane Helene approaches | Latest Weather Clips | FOX Weather
Playhouse blown down Florida beach as Hurricane Helene approaches
FOX Weather Meteorologist Ian Oliver was reporting from a St. Petersburg beach when powerful winds sent a playhouse tumbling over the sand and surf. Wind gusts in St. Petersburg have exceed 50 mph. Sept. 26, 2024.
Florida
Northwest Florida prepares for powerful Hurricane Helene
Forecasters are warning that Hurricane Helene will intensify into a major storm before striking Florida and further inland as it heads northward across the Gulf of Mexico. The storm had already prompted many residents to evacuate, while others are preparing.
Florida
Passengers arrive in Chicago from Florida ahead of Hurricane Helene
CHICAGO – Hurricane Helene is strengthening as it moves toward Florida, where it is expected to make landfall on Thursday.
Some residents are evacuating Florida ahead of the storm and relocating to Chicago.
We caught up with one passenger late Wednesday afternoon. Originally from Chicago, she now lives in Naples.
Donna Pecci has been traveling for business and just returned to O’Hare International Airport from Arkansas. She is visiting family in the area before attempting to get back to Florida.
So far, her flight is on schedule, but she is bracing for possible delays.
“We’re headed back to pick up our dog and supposedly, supposedly it’s supposed to be out tomorrow,” said Pecci. “We are getting a lot of alerts and a lot of people back home saying that we are definitely kind of in the line of fire. Definitely going to get a lot of storms, a lot of wind. We’ve been through this before. We’ve been down in Naples now for about three years, full-time, and six years, part-time. So, we’re kind of used to it, but it’s always scary.”
More passengers are expected to arrive at O’Hare from Florida; one flight is coming from Panama City and another from Pensacola.
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