A 15-year-old Martin County High School sophomore was arrested Tuesday after confessing to sending a hoax bomb threat to the school, the Martin County Sheriff's Office said. The arrest follows a series of three bomb threats at the campus over an eight-day period last week, with the most recent threat on Friday made through the state's FortifyFL reporting system.
School resource officers and the criminal investigations division traced the originator of the message back to the male student. The sophomore confessed to sending the hoax threat and is facing a charge of false report concerning the planting of a bomb, a second-degree felony. The suspect was only linked to the threat to the high school.
The arrest follows multiple hoax bomb threats involving schools in the area over the past several weeks. The sheriff's office said each threat is taken seriously and requires a significant response from law enforcement and emergency personnel, regardless of whether the threat ultimately proves to be a hoax.
The sheriff's office warned that anonymous threats are traceable and will be prosecuted. Anyone who thinks sending a threat anonymously, by text, online or through another form of electronic communication will automatically protect them from being identified and charged is making an unsafe assumption, the sheriff's office said. The sheriff's office said it will thoroughly investigate these incidents and aggressively pursue those responsible when the investigation provides sufficient evidence to identify them.