Rick Neale

FLORIDA TODAY

What is swatting%3F A hoax designed to deploy SWAT team

Teen used Twitter to solicit targets

Four false alarms affected Melbourne High

A 16-year-old Canadian "swatter" who used Twitter to solicit targets across North America placed the April 22 false emergency call that triggered a Melbourne High lockdown and disrupted FCAT testing, Police Sgt. Sheridan Shelley said.

Thursday, the Ottawa Police Service arrested the boy and charged him with 60 crimes, including uttering death threats, conveying false information with intent to alarm, public mischief and mischief to property.

The suspect is accused of making at least 30 hoax emergency calls. Officers searched his home and seized electronic devices for further analysis, along with firearms and ammunition.

The arrest culminated an investigation involving the FBI and police departments in the U.S. and Canada.

What is swatting? "Engaging emergency services with false calls to affect revenge on an individual or organization by causing the response of armed SWAT Teams to active shooter scenarios or bomb threats," Ottawa Police Staff Sergeant Rick Baldwin-Ooms stated in a press release.

Shelley said the Canadian suspect phoned in four false threats affecting Melbourne High:

* April 15: The suspect claimed he had placed a bomb inside Melbourne High. The school was evacuated, and a fruitless three-hour police search involved multiple officers, K-9s and the Brevard County Sheriff's Department helicopter.

* April 22: Police responded to Melbourne High after the suspect claimed he was armed with a knife and had just stabbed someone.

* May 2: West Melbourne police received a call from the suspect claiming he was armed with a gun at Melbourne High, and he demanded a large sum of money — or he would begin shooting people.

* Wednesday: The suspect called West Melbourne police and claimed he was on the Melbourne High campus with a firearm.

The suspect used the Twitter handle @ProbablyOnion2, Shelley said. On Wednesday, the suspect tweeted an update that foreshadowed his arrest the next day: "When you call the Melbourne police department and get transferred to a FBI agent. LOOOOOOL"

Wednesday's incident led to the arrest of Melbourne High junior Brandon Berger, 18. Shelley said Berger used Twitter to solicit the suspect to call in a threat at the school so he would not have to take a test.

During their investigation, Melbourne police contacted law enforcement agencies in Florida, California, New York, Maryland, Connecticut and Quebec.

Contact Neale at 321-242-3638, rneale@floridatoday.com or follow @RickNeale1.