Virginia 11-year-old arrested on charges of threatening to bomb and shoot up Florida schools over 20 times
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An 11-year-old from Virginia is facing 43 charges for allegedly making more than 20 bomb or shooting threats to multiple Florida schools.
The big picture: Henrico police arrested the boy on July 19, fulfilling an order a Florida judge made a day earlier, after police traced the calls to a home in Henrico, Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said in a Thursday press conference.
- The main five schools he is charged with targeting in a nine-day span in late May were in Flagler County, which is near Daytona Beach and about an hour from Orlando.
- He made similar calls in Virginia, D.C., Alabama, Alaska, Tennessee and Nebraska and to the Maryland statehouse, according to Staly.
- It also led to at least one copycat call from a 13-year-old boy who threatened to blow up a Florida middle school, officials said.
The latest: In the press conference, Staly called the child — who faces 29 felony counts and 14 misdemeanors — a "juvenile terrorist."
- Staly also detailed the contents of the calls that triggered a massive police response, put schools on lockdown and forced some parents to keep their kids at home out of safety concerns.
In one of the calls, the boy allegedly said there were two bombs placed at an elementary school and that he'd "shoot every police officer that responded," Staly shared in a May press conference.
- Flagler police said in a press release that he is accused of frequently threatening to commit a mass shooting.
- In another call, he said he'd "shoot everyone in the f---ing head" and once claimed to have killed his teacher, reported FlaglerLive, a local news outlet.
What's next: Police are holding the 11-year-old in a juvenile detention facility in Virginia pending an extradition to Florida.
- Florida State Attorney R.J. Larizza said Thursday it's possible the 11-year-old could be tried as an adult, "but I won't say anything more than that at this point."