State Police Arrest Teen Following School Threat

On the afternoon of January 10, 2022, the New York State Police based in Monroe in conjunction with the Village of Florida Police Department, Orange County Sheriff’s Department, and numerous other Orange County Police Agencies began investigating a series of phone calls that were received by the SS Seward Institute High School of the Florida Union Free School District suggesting there was a threat of violence at the school.
The Florida Union Free School District implemented their lockdown and eventually evacuation procedures. All students were safely accounted for and removed from the building.

Law Enforcement officers from the State Police, Village of Florida Police Department, Warwick Police Department, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, Village of Chester Police Department, Town of Chester Police Department, and the Woodbury Police Department immediately searched the facility and it was determined that the threat wasn’t credible. Continued Investigation by the New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation, with the assistance of the FBI Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force, and the Village of Florida Police Department, resulted in the arrest of a juvenile suspect for Falsely Reporting an Incident in the first degree (Class D Felony).