- October 30, 2024
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By: Brittany Kershaw
Public Affairs Manager, Flagler County Sheriff's Office
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) received a call at 8:20 a.m. Feb. 17 from a concerned parent who was monitoring her child’s text messages and located a message her son received on the evening of Feb. 16 from a friend stating, “I feel like shooting up the school and then living in solitary confinement for the rest of my days," followed by a laughing-with-tears emoji.
The friend had also written, "I’m gonna murder someone,"“ I’m straight up gonna be a serial killer,” and “I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m a sociopath that doesn’t feel shit and would be happy to kill people."
The parent reported the incident to law enforcement and identified the person who sent the message as a 16-year-old girl.
After positively identifying the suspect, deputies determined that the teen was a new member of the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Explorers program, a program designed to build strong relationships between teens and law enforcement officers while teaching participants about the law enforcement profession.
Sheriff’s Explorer supervisors never observed any issues or had any problems with her in the program. The teen's membership was immediately terminated from the program following her arrest.
“It is very unfortunate that a person who showed interest in becoming a law enforcement officer would make threats of this kind. That is not a type of behavior tolerated by our Sheriff’s Explorers or anyone else for that matter,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “I commend the parent who was doing the right thing and monitoring their child’s activity on their phone and saw this message and reported it. This type of parenting should be praised. We hope this student gets the help that she is crying out for.”
The teen was placed under arrest for sending a written threat to conduct a mass shooting, a felony under Florida State Statute 836.10.
She was taken to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility for processing and then transported to the Department of Juvenile Justice in Daytona Beach.
Remember that all threats will be investigated and taken seriously, even if you claim to be joking around.
Watch the FCSO video “Make the Choice to Raise Your Voice” here and share it with someone you know: https://youtu.be/fuwfzZv8Nj4
