TAMPA, Fla. — State attorney Suzy Lopez is urging parents to talk with their children about the serious consequences that come with creating threatening text messages and social media posts following a sharp increase in threats against schools in Tampa Bay.

Hillsborough County Public Schools posted to its X social media platform that 181 false threats have been made against the district in the past ten days. 

What You Need To Know

  • Hillsborough County Public Schools posted to X that 181 false threats have been made against the district since the deadly Georgia school shooting on Sept. 4

  • State attorney Suzy Lopez said teens might not realize that making threats can come with serious consequences, including felony charges and time in juvenile detention

  • Lopez urged parents to talk with their kids about how creating threatening posts or messages can upend their lives

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"It's absolutely unfathomable," said Lopez. "Every one of those (are) thoroughly investigated by our law enforcement partners and by our school system. There is no such thing as a joke or a hoax."

Lopez said teens might not understand just how serious the consequences can be for making threats.

"They don't realize that what they have in their purse, their back pocket with them all the time, is the most powerful thing that we have, and that's a cell phone. Just typing a few words and posting or pushing 'send' can be incredibly, incredibly powerful," Lopez said.

According to Lopez, teens caught making threats are arrested and taken to juvenile detention.

"That's basically juvenile jail," she said. "It is not a nice hotel. It is not a nice place to be, and so that's when things start to get real for them, and that's when we get to work."

Lopez said law enforcement makes contact with the school district and family to learn more about the student's academic record, whether there's a history of violence, and to make sure they don't have access to guns. Teens can face a number of charges.

"They're felonies, and they're going to stick with them, and they're going to stick with them forever," said Lopez. "They may end up in a diversion program, which means that the case against them would not follow them throughout their lives, but they're going to have to really face the consequences and be held accountable."

That can include community service and meeting with families of shooting victims to learn about the impact of gun violence. Lopez wants parents to talk with their kids about how creating these messages can upend their lives.

"They may think it's funny, their friends may think it's funny, but the adults do not think it is funny. The court system, law enforcement, the school systems — we do not think it is funny, and you'll be held accountable," Lopez said.