Two dozen Florida school students arrested after allegedly making threats since beginning of academic year

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office successful Florida has arrested 24 nationalist schoolhouse students since the opening of the world year, for alleged written oregon online threats, according to authorities.

Polk County School District Superintendent Fred Heid announced the shocking fig of arrests during a quality league Thursday, conscionable weeks aft a fatal shooting astatine Apalachee High School successful Georgia.

"Students volition beryllium arrested. They volition beryllium charged with a second-degree felony," Heid said during the quality league covered by FOX 13 Tampa. "And from the schoolhouse district's perspective, we volition prosecute the fullest grade of the consequences for immoderate pupil oregon immoderate non-student subordinate of our assemblage who phones these successful oregon posts thing online oregon societal media oregon email."

Along with seeking transgression charges for students who marque threats towards schools, Heid said the schoolhouse territory volition question restitution for immoderate clip and resources spent investigating the threats.

GEORGIA HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTING SUSPECT'S MOM DEFENDS HER SON IN MESSAGE TO VICTIMS' FAMILIES

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd and Polk County Schools Superintendent Fred Heid announced Thursday that 24 students had been arrested since the commencement of the schoolhouse twelvemonth for making written threats. (Polk County Schools / YouTube)

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd joined Heid during the quality conference, and said determination were 42 arrests made during the 2023-24 schoolhouse twelvemonth successful which students made written threats against region schools.

So acold this year, successful conscionable 28 days, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office has made 24 arrests.

"That's wherefore we're each lasting up present today," Judd said. "Because we can't person immoderate much of that."

GEORGIA HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTING: SUSPECT'S FORMER NEIGHBORS RECOUNT HARROWING STORIES OF ALLEGED ABUSE, CHAOS

Officials announced Thursday that 24 students had been arrested since the commencement of the schoolhouse twelvemonth for making written threats online. (iStock)

Judd praised the app, Fortify Florida, which gives students the quality to instantly report suspicious activity to instrumentality enforcement agencies and schoolhouse officials.

FOX 13 reported that Heid provided an mentation connected wherefore helium believes determination person been truthful galore threats recently.

"I think, unfortunately, galore of our students judge that societal media is an due spot for them to effort to garner attention," the superintendent said. "As the sheriff enactment it, we investigate, and we implicit much menace assessments than respective others bash due to the fact that we bash not diminish the expectation."

COLIN GRAY, FATHER OF GEORGIA HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTING SUSPECT CHARGED WITH MURDER, MANSLAUGHTER, CHILD CRUELTY

Florida instrumentality enforcement and schoolhouse officials announced Thursday that 24 students had been arrested since the commencement of the schoolhouse twelvemonth for making written threats online. (iStock)

The sheriff echoed Heid, adding that immoderate kids spell with the latest societal media trends.

"We extremity up with these TikTok challenges; good we'll TikTok you to jailhouse if you travel those challenges. That's the bottommost enactment to it," Judd said. "The overwhelming bulk of the kids go, 'Well that's nuts, and I'm not going to bash it.' But a fewer of the kids say, 'I'm nuts, and I'm gonna to bash it,' and then, we're going to apprehension them."

Fox News Digital has reached retired to the schoolhouse district.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Still, the alternate to speaking astir proactive measures would beryllium the tragic effect of not doing anything.

"I would overmuch alternatively beryllium lasting present talking astir this contiguous than you saying, ‘Sheriff, schoolhouse board, superintendent, you did nothing, and this kid’s been sending messages for months? And present he's brought a weapon to schoolhouse and changeable the schoolhouse oregon changeable up a kid astatine school,’" Judd said.