Columbia County Sheriff urges parents to monitor social media midst students arrested for fake threats

COLUMBIA COUNTY, Fla. — The Columbia County Sheriff is speaking out after a series of threats to shoot up two schools in the area. Sheriff Mark Hunter said law enforcement officers in Florida and Georgia worked tirelessly to find who they say are responsible for threatening to shoot up the schools.

Although the threats were a false alarm, the investigation ended with three teenagers arrested, one as young as 13 years old.

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Now, Sheriff Hunter’s message is that parents also need to step up.

“Let’s as a community come together and work together. When these people do these bad things, let’s hold them accountable and get them out of here,” said Hunter.

The threats were originally posted on Instagram stories. One student posted in part, “Don’t forget Fort White High School is getting shot... just wait until I show up tomorrow.”

Three students were arrested. Because of their age, Action News Jax chose not to identify them.

Sheriff Mark Hunter said one of the suspects, after he was arrested, told law enforcement that he was “just kidding.”

However, State Attorney John Durrett was not laughing in Wednesday morning’s news conference.

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“You think it is a joke to spread things on social media about how you’re going to shoot up a school? Do you think that’s funny? Children were murdered in Georgia,” said State Attorney John Durrett, Third Judicial Circuit of Florida.

He said these teenagers would be punished.

“We’ll see you in court. I’m going to do my job. I’m not threatening anybody, but I’m going to evaluate everything. This is not a child’s game you’re playing,” said Durrett.

Officers confirm they found no evidence to show they would actually carry out the threats. However, they stress now this is the time for parents to talk to their children more and they recommend monitoring their social media.

The three students arrested in these cases are still in custody.

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