South Daytona boy, 13, arrested in latest Buddy Taylor Middle School bomb threat

A 13-year-old South Daytona boy was arrested in a school threat made Friday against Buddy Taylor Middle School in Palm Coast, Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said in a press conference Friday night.

Staly said the teenager does not attend Buddy Taylor Middle School but made the threat after he was dared by a friend enrolled at the school. Staly said deputies also plan to arrest the friend and that they have a good idea of the friend's identity.

Staly said investigators believe it was a copycat threat and the investigation is continuing to try to find who made the other threats against schools earlier this week.

Friday was the fourth consecutive day that Buddy Taylor Middle School had been targeted. Wadsworth and Old Kings elementary schools have also had classes disrupted due to threats.

The arrest was related to a call that came in at 10:47 a.m. Friday with the voice of a young male who called the school directly. The call came in as anonymous on the caller ID. The caller said the school would be blown up at 11 a.m.

The time was 10:48 a.m. The school was locked down and 19 deputies and investigators responded and cleared the school. The Sheriff's Office Real Time Crime Center also started investigating. The Palm Coast and Flagler County fire departments responded.

The investigation led police to a 13-year-old boy who was walking along Derbyshire Road in Daytona Beach holding the phone he used to make the call, Staly said.

He said the teen would face three third-degree felonies, making a false report of a bomb and unlawful use of a two-way communication device. He was also charged with tampering with physical evidence because he tried to delete information on his phone to hide his criminal activity, Staly said.

If tried as an adult, each charge would be five years in state prison.

Staly said the student who dared him would face conspiracy charges on each count and the same penalties.

Staly said the young man who made the dare should tell his parents and turn himself in because the sheriff's office was going to find him and arrest him.

He said the sheriff's office continues to investigate the other calls earlier this week.

He urged parents to talk to their kids before deputies show up at their door.

"We take every threat seriously and when we come knocking on your door, your kid is going to jail," Staly said.

Staly said that he does not know whether the 13-year-old would be charged as an adult.

But Staly said he plans to send the parents the bill for the response to the threat on Friday.

"We will ask for the full cost reimbursement," Staly said. "I don't have what that is today, but it's a lot."

Flagler Schools Superintendent: Keep sending students to school

Flagler County Schools Superintendent LaShakia Moore also attended the press conference and said Buddy Taylor Middle School experienced a higher absentee rate and a higher check-out rate as a result of the threats.

She said it was a parent's decision whether to send their children to school and she advised parents to continue sending their students. She said the school district would do everything in its power to ensure students and faculty were safe.

"We are going to respond appropriately to every threat that comes into our schools, but we are going to continue to make our school days as normal as possible for our students," Moore said.

The sheriff's office is asking anyone with information to call its non-emergency line at 386-313-4911 or email TIPS@flaglersheriff.com. A tip can also be submitted on the sheriff's office website or its app.

Editor's note: The story has been corrected to show that the age of the boy was 13. The incorrect age was provided initially at a press conference.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Florida teen arrested in latest Flagler Schools bomb threat