Osceola Sheriff dispatches K-9s and mounted units to Friday night's Harmony football game
Officials confirmed the game would proceed after determining that circulating shooting threats were false, following a week of arrests related to a student assault.
By Thomas Reynolds ·
The Friday night football game between Harmony High School and St. Cloud High School is set to take place as planned, backed by an increased police presence that includes K-9 units and mounted patrol officers. The Osceola County Sheriff's Office made the decision after concluding that recent reports of a planned shooting at the venue were not genuine.
The decision to expand security came after authorities received a tip on Thursday night alleging that a shooting would occur during the match. Text messages containing the same claim spread among students on Friday morning. Deputies investigated both the initial tip and the digital messages, determining that neither threat was real. St. Cloud Police Department officers will also be on site to assist with the expanded security perimeter.
The threats surfaced in the wake of a violent incident that has dominated the local news cycle. On Oct. 16, a group of students allegedly attacked a 17-year-old near Harmony High School. The victim was transported to a hospital where medical staff gave her 11 stitches. Officials stated the beating was a retaliation for a lunch period dispute in which the teenager had intervened when a group of students threw carrots at a girl.
Following the assault, law enforcement arrested nine students on Oct. 21. The group, with ages ranging from 14 to 18, faces charges of felony aggravated battery and felony inciting a riot. The shooting threats later circulated online attributed the planned gunfire to the injured teenager herself. Investigators examined this claim and found it to be false as well, though they have not yet identified the source of the threats or any potential link to the victim.
Captain Kim Montes of the sheriff's office emphasized that the false alarms would face legal consequences. "False reports of a shooting will not be tolerated and if the suspect is identified, that person will be charged," Montes said. As of Friday, the origin of the threats remained unknown, but the game stands with the full weight of county and municipal law enforcement behind it.
Source: FOX 35 Orlando
