Photo: Milovan Zrnic / iStock / Getty Images
Polk County, FL - A 16-year-old in Polk County has been arrested after allegedly making threatening phone calls to two local high schools on Monday, prompting a law enforcement investigation.
At approximately 11:05 a.m., Auburndale High School received a call in which the caller claimed he was hearing voices and hiding in a school restroom with an AK-47.
The individual allegedly stated, “You need to find me before I go into a classroom and take hostages.”
Shortly afterward, Winter Haven High School received a similar call from the same phone number.
During that call, the caller allegedly said he had a rifle and planned on shooting up the school later that day.
Investigators with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office School Threat Assessment Team traced both calls to a phone number registered to a Lake Alfred woman.
Her 16-year-old son, a student at Winter Haven High School, was present at the residence.
When deputies spoke to the teen, he allegedly suggested that his stepfather was responsible for the calls.
Sheriff Grady Judd emphasized that threats of this nature are treated seriously and that anyone making such calls can face significant legal consequences.
The teen was arrested and transferred to the Juvenile Assessment Center in Bartow.
He faces five felony charges, including two counts of false report of a weapon of mass destruction, two counts of using a two-way communication device in the commission of a felony, and one count of providing false information to law enforcement.