Two dozen students arrested in Florida after allegedly making threats since the start of the school year

According to authorities, the Polk County Sheriff's Office in Florida has arrested 24 public school students since the start of the school year for alleged written or online threats.

Polk County School District Superintendent Fred Heid announced the shocking number of arrests during a press conference Thursday, just weeks after a deadly shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia.

“Students are being arrested. They are being charged with a second-degree felony,” Heid said during the press conference, which was broadcast by FOX 13 Tampa. “And from the school district's perspective, we will pursue the full consequences for any student or non-student member of our community who reports these allegations by phone or posts anything online, on social media or via email.”

Heid said the school district will not only file criminal charges against students who have threatened schools, but will also seek compensation for the time and resources spent investigating those threats.

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Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd attended the press conference with Heid and said there were 42 arrests during the 2023-24 school year in which students made written threats against schools in the county.

So far this year, the Polk County Sheriff's Office has made 24 arrests in just 28 days.

“That's why we're all here today,” said Judd. “Because we can't tolerate this anymore.”

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On Thursday, authorities announced that 24 students had been arrested since the start of the school year for making written threats online. (iStock)

Judd praised the Fortify Florida app, which allows students to immediately report suspicious activity to law enforcement and school administrators.

FOX 13 reported that Heid offered an explanation as to why he believes there have been so many threats recently.

“I think, unfortunately, many of our students believe that social media is an appropriate place to get attention,” the superintendent said. “As the sheriff put it, we investigate and do more threat assessments than many others because we don't lower expectations.”

Colin Gray, father of the suspect in the Georgia High School shooting, is charged with murder, manslaughter and child abuse.

Law enforcement and school officials in Florida announced Thursday that 24 students have been arrested since the start of the school year for making written threats online. (iStock)

The sheriff agreed with Heid, adding that some children follow the latest social media trends.

“We have these TikTok challenges and we send you to jail via TikTok if you complete these challenges. That's the bottom line,” Judd said. “The overwhelming majority of kids say, 'This is crazy and I'm not going to do it.' But a few kids say, 'I'm crazy and I'm going to do it,' and then we arrest them.”

Fox News Digital has contacted the school district.

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However, the alternative to talking about proactive measures would have the tragic result of doing nothing.

“I would much rather stand here today and talk about this than have you say, 'Sheriff, school board, superintendent, you did nothing, and this kid was sending messages for months? And now he brought a gun to school and shot at the school or shot a kid at school,'” Judd said.