MITCHELL COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — A 14-year-old Florida boy has confessed to making phone calls that included a threat to Mitchell Middle and Mitchell Elementary, the Mitchell County Sheriff’s Office said, adding that there is no credible threat to the institutions at this time.
On Friday, Aug. 21, around 12:30 p.m., the sheriff’s office said the schools received six phone calls, starting as “vulgar” comments and later leading to comments of “shooting the school up.”
The sheriff’s office said its investigation team, along with Mitchell County School Resource Officers, North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and the FBI, started an investigation and used the phone number associated with the calls.
A male juvenile from Okeechobee, Florida, was located, interviewed and confessed to making the calls. The sheriff’s office confirmed that the 14-year-old will be facing felony charges related to making threats.
The sheriff’s office said they’re unaware of any connections between the juvenile and Mitchell County at this time, and the investigation is ongoing to determine if there were ties.
On Friday, Mitchell County Schools posted on Facebook that the schools received “prank calls” and that students weren’t in danger, so the day continued as normal.
There is no credible threat at this time for Mitchell County Schools involving this incident, the sheriff’s office said.
Mitchell County Schools reposted the sheriff’s office’s online press release about the incident.