Officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have arrested a 17 year-old on charges that he made a SWATing telephone call to a Florida sheriff’s comm center last September, reporting he was driving to a local school with an AK-47 rifle and intended to “shoot everyone.” The suspect allegedly also sent similar email threats in October to a teenage girl in Florida and made an additional SWATing call in November reporting a murder at the teen’s home. Polk County sheriff’s deputies say the phone calls and email specifically targeted a girl who had rejected his on-line relationship. Sheriff’s deputies traced the email and telephone calls and provided the suspect’s information to the RCMP. The unnamed teen was arrested last Saturday, his house was searched and his computer gear was seized. The RCMP said the suspect is an experienced computer programming, and is already on probation for SWATing incidents within Canada. Sheriff’s deputies say the teen is also a suspect in several other U.S. SWATing and identify theft incidents. The suspect won’t be extradited to the U.S. because he is a teen, but Polk County officials say they may pursue a civil action to recoup the cost of the emergency responses to the calls and email. Read more about the arrest here and here. [In an odd twist, the teen’s father claims his house is bugged by an unknown group or agency.]
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