School threats increasing in frequency in Volusia County, sheriff says

School threats increasing in frequency in Volusia County

School threats in Volusia County are on the rise, and local law enforcement is taking an aggressive approach to deter students, authorities say.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - School threats in Volusia County are on the rise, and local law enforcement is taking an aggressive approach to deter students, authorities say.

The Volusia County sheriff has publicly "perp-walked" students responsible for threats, a practice he said initially reduced incidents when first implemented in 2024. But he says the impact has faded and threats are now increasing.

Threats on the rise

By the numbers:

Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood says in the 2023-24 school year, there were 18 school threats.  Last year, it was 35. This year, there have been 23 already.

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There have been more tips coming in too — 784 last year. Last week, Fortify Florida already had over 400 for this school year.

What they're saying:

Sheriff Chitwood says he’s been doing what he can to dissuade kids from making threats. 

The whole point of publishing their perp walks is to show to both kids and their parents, the consequences are real, but it isn’t working. And it’s hard to know why.

"I don't know the answer to that question," said Sheriff Chitwood. "All I know is that if you're raising your kid right, and you're on top of what they're doing, and you explain the consequences to them. We won't have this issue."

Recent examples

Dig deeper:

FOX 35 has reported on Volusia County arresting teenagers for making school threats almost nonstop these past couple of weeks.

We just had one Tuesday, the day of this report — a 13-year-old arrested for involvement in a threat to shoot up Southwestern Middle School.

FOX 35 reported on that threat last month. A 12-year-old girl had allegedly written out a manifesto detailing who she’d shoot, and how and why, and what she’d say to them.

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On March 6t a 12-year-old at Silver Sands Middle School was arrested for making a false claim to law enforcement about someone threatening the school – she turned out to be the one who made the threat, VCSO says.

On March 5, an 11-year-old was arrested for a second time for making threats to shoot people — once at Southwestern Middle School, then again at Deland Middle.

On March 4, a ten-year-old was arrested at Pride Elementary School for threatening to bring a gun in and kill people.

How seriously to take the threats

Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood says he has no choice – he has to take every threat seriously.

"Because if I'm wrong once, somebody can get killed. Or lots of people can get killed," he said.