JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Threats called in to two local schools this week continue to be investigated.
St. Johns County Sheriff Robert A. Hardwick spoke with “Jacksonville’s Morning News” on WOKV and responded to WOKV’s interview with one of the threat actors who claim to be responsible for the call.
WOKV notes that, although due diligence has been done to determine the veracity of the caller’s identity, it is possible that the person interviewed is not who he or she says. With that in mind, Sheriff Hardwick said that if the presumptive suspect is being honest, and he is, in fact, hired by students in the county, that is “disappointing.”
He said that he is counting on the suspect making mistakes and says, “...(You’ve) just got to find the mistakes” in order to catch the suspect.
The school threats, he says, stress not only the students but also the “6,000 plus” employees in the district. He is hoping that the person or persons responsible for the threats can be caught and “held accountable” and “maybe clear up the fact that there are kids paying him in St. Johns County.” He says he hopes that rumour is not true because he does not think that these threats should not be put “back on the kids.”
Hardwick calls attention to the parallel between these threats to “the old calling the old bomb scare.” Nonetheless, his staff is investigating “like nobody else.”
He says that often these acts are cries for help, and has a message for those who are making the calls: “...(If) you’re actually the suspect...it’s almost like you’re begging for help. And you’ve picked the right Sheriff, by the way. So if you have an addiction or a mental health issue, and this is your addiction or your issue you’re having in life... hopefully we catch you and offer those services to you and help you out.”
Listen to the full segment here:
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