Sheriff working with FBI to trace bomb threats at Parrish high school. Here’s the latest

A string of bomb threats against Parrish Community High School over the past week has left students, parents and staff rattled as law enforcement hunts for who is responsible.

On Tuesday the Manatee County sheriff, superintendent and school principal held a press conference to address concerns after the latest threat earlier that morning.

Law enforcement and district officials received two threats via the FortifyFL app, a tool used for giving anonymous tips about school safety. They said that a bomb would go off at the high school at 10:15 a.m.

The threats forced a complete evacuation of the school so that law enforcement could sweep the grounds with bomb-sniffing dogs.

No credible threat was found, Manatee County School District Superintendent Cynthia Saunders said at a news conference at the high school on Tuesday afternoon.

“I’m concerned about the amount of time this is taking away from our students’ education,” Parrish Community High School Principal Craig Little said.

‘We will arrest them’

Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells said that the sheriff’s office is working with the FBI to get to the source of the anonymous threats.

Those responsible could face a second degree felony for written threats of harm for each threat made, as well as other misdemeanor charges, Wells said.

Wells said one complication is that the company that operates the FortifyFL app has a host site in California, requiring law enforcement to subpoena out-of-state internet records.

“As you know that’s all about anonymity. The problem that we’re having is that when they use the app, the host site may not be in the state of Florida. We’re having to work very hard to get this information that we need to solve these cases,” Wells said.

At least one of the threats was made using a Romanian IP address, law enforcement found.

Internet users can disguise their true location and IP address using VPN software. Detectives believe the threat was made locally using such software, Wells said.

“We’re currently working with the FBI to help us out in Romania and also in California,” Wells said.

“When we find out who is responsible, we will arrest them. We will take them to jail.”

Wells also asked parents to talk with their kids and encourage them to come forward if they have any information about the threats.

“I feel for the parents and the children and the staff who have to go through this type of trauma every day,” Wells said.

Confusion over student whereabouts

The threat caused another major interruption for the school and confusion among parents eager to get their children home safe.

On Tuesday morning, the school district initially announced plans to release students with cars who had parent permission. The district later said that children who did not have cars would be bused to a reunification center at the Manatee County Fairgrounds.

Those plans were later changed when the sweep of the campus was completed sooner than expected with help from Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, district officials said. Students were instead allowed back into classrooms for the remainder of the school day and dismissed as normal.

But many parents didn’t receive word about the change until they were in line at the fairgrounds.

District officials defended their course of action at Tuesday’s news conference.

“I’m sure it did seem chaotic,” Saunders said. “Unfortunately when you have a different situation daily, you have to respond differently daily.

Because of all those situations, we did have to change the protocols of how they could access their children.”

Wells said that extra law enforcement would remain on site at the school this week as the sheriff’s office continues to investigate.

Crime Stoppers of Manatee County is offering a $500 reward for information leading to an arrest related to the threats.

This story was originally published February 8, 2023 at 10:10 AM.