'This is how kids joke': Student arrested for threatening to bomb Spring Hill school during prank call
SPRING HILL, Fla. - A student was arrested after calling a friend during class and threatening to bomb a Spring Hill school, according to the Hernando County Sheriff's Office.
On Friday, officials say Deputy Angel Lara, the School Resource Deputy at Explorer K-8, was contacted by the school's assistant principal, Andrew Macgregor, after a student received concerning text messages.
Deputy Lara and Macgregor met with the student who informed them that they received a call during class from an unknown number, according to the sheriff's office. The student told school officials that the caller said something about working at a convenience store and started laughing.
After not recognizing the phone number or voice, the student texted the number back to figure out who it was, according to deputies.
Authorities say the caller responded to the text with several messages including a threat to "bomb your school" and went as far as saying the name and location of the school. Officials say the caller referenced Explorer K-8 at Northcliffe Boulevard in Spring Hill.
After reading the messages, Deputy Lara contacted HCSO so more resources could be dispatched to the school and the proper bomb threat protocol could be enacted.
After searching the campus, deputies say no suspicious items or contraband were found by teams. Students and staff were allowed back on campus after the bomb threat protocols ended.
The HCSO Crime Analysis Unit worked to find the subscriber information for the telephone number used to make the threats, according to the sheriff's office. Investigators discovered that the number belonged to the parent of a student at Winding Waters K-8.
The School Resource Deputy at Winding Waters K-8, Deputy M. Renzkowski, along with the school's assistant principal, Jennifer de Armas, immediately went to the class the student was in and removed her and all of her belongings from the classroom, according to authorities.
HCSO says Deputy Renzkowski asked the student's mother to come to school and once she arrived, Deputy Renzkowski asked the student if she had her cellphone with her and confirmed the number was the same number used to make the false bomb threat.
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The student explained that she let another student use the cellphone during sixth and seventh periods, which was from approximately 10:04 a.m. until 11:46 a.m., according to the sheriff's office.
Officials say the student who borrowed the phone wanted to make a prank call to her friend who attended Explorer K-8 and said that if she used her own phone, the friend would know who made the call.
Security camera footage confirmed that the phone exchange happened and Deputy Renzkowski and de Armas met with the student accused of making the prank call, according to deputies.
Officials say the student admitted to making the call and sending the text messages, including the bomb threat, during an interview.
Deputies say the student also said, "This is how kids joke." According to authorities, she planned to tell the student at Explorer K-8 that it was her who made the call and sent the text messages but said she forgot to.
HCSO says the student was charged with false report of a bomb and taken to the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) in Ocala, where she remains.