December 12th 2023.
An 11-year-old boy in Marion Oaks, Florida has been arrested and charged with four felony crimes after he reported a fake school shooting to police. The incident took place on December 5th at 9.40am at Horizon Academy, where the boy made a call to 911.
When asked by the call handler for the school's name, the unnamed boy replied with "Marion Oaks". When asked which hallway he was in, he said "Building two". He then became agitated and disconnected the call.
The school was immediately placed on lockdown as specialist units and law enforcement personnel tried to find the shooter. However, after an investigation, police determined there had been no actual shooting and the boy was behind the phone call. He had taken a friend's phone and made the call because he wanted to leave school early.
The Marion County Sheriff's Office stated that the incident was a prank, and Sheriff Billy Woods had strong words for the 11-year-old, saying: "This student put fear into his fellow students, staff, and parents. And for what? A prank? Because you wanted to go home? I will not tolerate my young citizens being fearful of going to school because you wanted to be a 'jokester' in hopes of going home. The law requires that any person who makes these types of false reports pay restitution for the cost of the law enforcement response which, in this case, will equal hundreds upon hundreds of man-hours. This young man is going to need to mow a lot of lawns to pay that bill."
The boy's parents refused to comment on the incident without legal representation. He was charged with false report of a mass shooting, utilising a two-way communication device to commit a felony, disruption of a school function and misuse of 911.
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