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Florida boy, 11, arrested, put in handcuffs over false bomb threat on school bus, police say

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Updated  January 10, 2025 8:25pm EST
Volusia County
FOX 35 Orlando

Student arrested after bomb threat on bus

A school bus was evacuated this morning after deputies say a student onboard made a bomb threat.

The Brief

    • Police say an 11-year-old middle school student in Florida stood up on a bus and claimed another student had a bomb in his backpack on Friday morning.
    • Officers state the bus driver immediately stopped the bus, reported the threat, and deputies responded to investigate.
    • There was no bomb, and all students and staff are safe, officials report.

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. - An 11-year-old Florida boy was placed in handcuffs, loaded into a sheriff's office patrol vehicle, and walked into a jail cell after falsely claiming that another student on the bus had a bomb with him, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.

There was no bomb, and no students nor the bus driver were hurt, the sheriff's office said.

The backstory: Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood has taken a stand on hoax school threats, whether it be a gun threat or a bomb threat. He challenged parents to parent their kids and has repeatedly talked about how expensive it is to respond and investigate these false threats.

He also threatened to arrest kids and publicly shame them by posting their mug shot and "perp walk" to VSO's social media. And he delivered on that promise, posting a handful of students accused of making school threats.

FOX 35 and some other media outlets have decided not to show the kids' faces nor name them due to their ages and the juvenile-level charges. 

'Do your job': Volusia Sheriff fed up with hoax school threats

Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood has strong words for parents and students after his department has seen an increase in bogus school shooting threats. "Parents, do your job," Sheriff Chitwood said. He said his school has spent thousands of dollars investigation potential social media threats targeting schools, some that turned out to be jokes. Some students have been arrested and charged. Sheriff Chitwood threatened if he finds out a parent knew about their student's alleged threats and did nothing about it, he'll arrest them and perp walk them alongside their child.

What we know: The 11-year-old allegedly claimed that another kid on the bus had a bomb in his backpack, VSO said. After the bus was cleared, a sheriff's deputy asked the boy if he was trying to get the boy in trouble. The boy said, "no."

"What did you think was going to happen?" the deputy asked.

"I thought everybody wouldn't care, and it wouldn't be a big deal."

"But, do you see what the problem is? This. I have a very busy city. And we had, what,  10–15 cops here. So there's other citizens out there that need our help…and they're calling 911," the deputy explains. "…and now we're not available to those other emergencies because we think we have a ‘bomb’ here."

"And because of what you said, caused that alarm. Do you see that's a problem?" The boy nodded his head yes, according to the video.

What happens next: The boy was taken to the Volusia County Family Service Center and booked on charges of making a false threat and disrupting a school function.

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The Source: This story was written using information from the Volusia Sheriff's Office.

Volusia CountyCrime and Public SafetyEducation