9-year-old Florida boy arrested for making ‘several’ bomb threats to school, police say
A 9-year-old boy is now facing criminal charges after calling in “several bomb threats” to a school in the Florida Panhandle, according to police.
Authorities said the boy faces a charge of making a false report concerning planting a bomb after they learned of several voicemails left at Hutchison Beach Elementary School in Panama City Beach over the holiday weekend, claiming there was a bomb on campus, ABC affiliate WMBB in Panama City reports.
The station reports that officials evacuated the school but found nothing suspicious.
Police identified the young boy as a suspect and questioned him and he confessed to making the calls, WMBB reports.
“Some people might ask: Why are you charging a 9-year-old for what might be considered a prank? This is not a prank to us. This is not a joke. This is not something we can take lightly,” Panama City Beach police Chief J.R. Talamantez told the station. “The reality is, in this day and age, there is no reason for this. If you call a threat into our school, no matter what manner it is, we are going to investigate it, we are going to use every single resource we have to identify you and hold you accountable.”
The school sent out an alert to parents informing them about the incident.
