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13-year-old arrested for sending bomb threats to Buchholz and Kanapaha

Press release from Alachua County Sheriff’s Office

Updated at 8:15 p.m. with corrected information from ASO

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – On Monday, September 18, at approximately 6:20 a.m., deputies with the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office Juvenile Relations Bureau were contacted by Alachua County school administrators from both Buchholz High School and Kanapaha Middle School related to a bomb threat that was received at both schools via email.

The information obtained from school officials prompted a coordinated response from members of the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office Patrol Division, Juvenile Relations Bureau, K-9 Unit, and Bomb Squad. Additional explosive detection dogs were requested from the University of Florida Police Department, who graciously assisted.

The deputies who responded to both Buchholz High School and Kanapaha Middle School performed a very methodical search of each school with the use of explosive detection dogs and assistance from members of the bomb squad. After several hours, both schools were deemed safe.

While deputies worked to ensure each school was safe and secure, detectives from the ACSO Criminal Investigation Division began working to determine the source of the threats. Through their diligent efforts, our detectives identified 13-year-old Ja’neiah Anthony as the person who is suspected of sending both email threats. Anthony is currently enrolled as an 8th-grade student at Kanapaha Middle School and after speaking with ACSO detectives, Anthony confessed to sending both threats.

Anthony was arrested and charged with the following crimes:
Fl. State Statute 836.10 – Written or electronic threats to commit an act of terrorism Fl. State Statute 877.13 – Disruption of a school function
Fl. State Statute 934.215 – Unlawful use of a two-way communication device

Anthony was transported to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, where she was turned over to their custody.

  • Just another juvenile naively having some innocent fun–there will be no harm/no foul/no record /sarcasm off.

  • We need to lower the age at which we consider crimes to be adult age. I’d lower it two years to 16, and maybe even 14. This new generation of teens are simply out of control and we have very few reprecussions to try to rein in their behavior. Judges could still take their age into account until they reach 18 and push them towards reform programs and such, but we are going to have to start punishing these upper teenagers more like adults or they are just going to continue to run amok.

    • Parents used to be held accountable. However, in today’s world, 70% of families are single parent, usually with more than one kid. In most cases, punishment would harm additional children, but maybe a shake up like that is needed.

  • They released the name of the juvenile which makes me think she will be charge as an adult. The court should demand restitution from her for the cost of the search and the time lost to the disruption. Of course that is hard to quantify, perhaps a couple hundred thousand dollars were wasted on this nonsense. No more public school for you, bye bye!

    • Yes, when they name said child, they are being charged as an adult, in her case she’s facing up to her 18th bday in juvenile prisons(youthful offenders), then can be in with adults till she’s 21 or 25

  • Guess that’s one way to make a name for yourself. She was the most popular girl in school…for one day at least.
    Can’t help but wonder if it’s deemed a viable threat, whether or not the SBAC will laughingly just attribute it to an innocent prank. If they do, wonder how many parents of children in that particular zone will be willing to laugh it off as well.
    Let’s just hope the majority of kids’ safety is more important than one kid’s feelings.

  • Parents need to be held accountable with some form of punishment. You’re responsible for your kids until they are 18. It seems a lot of people no longer parent anymore 🙁

    • There’s a difference between being responsible for a child and being held accountable for a child’s actions.

      As a parent, we can only hope we’ve raised them properly to understand the realize the differences between right and wrong, good and bad. Sometimes it sinks in, sometimes it doesn’t. We also hope they make the correct choices in life to make them contributors/members of society that will allow them to be prosperous and successful in whatever endeavors they pursue. Unfortunately it doesn’t always work out the way we would like.

    • It’s interesting KESO. Your comment already has a downvote; similarly, so does Mo Betta’s suggesting the same thing. Recall Gabe Parker? People were divided about whether his stepdad should be held accountable for allowing access to his pistol in the school shooting.

      • Whoa. Allowing access to a firearm (a crime by itself) is way different than a child doing something you weren’t aware of.

        • How about taking an accessible kitchen knife and stabbing a playmate to death? The parent would have no knowledge of that either. It’s just a question for everyone. Where does the line get drawn?

  • Parent’s need to take back control of their Children,” bring them up in the way that you want them to go, and they will not depart from those ways”. This is what happens when parents take the JESUS factor out of bringing up their CHILDREN.

    • One guest to another.
      Many can tell what’s not a mystery.
      Someone correct me if I’m wrong but I believe most of this type of threat is perpetrated by predominantly Caucasian groups. Males at that.

        • Guy, guess I should have been more geographically specific, Caucasian🚫Arab. Wasn’t a suicidal threat and it wasn’t in a foreign country.

      • Yes, I believe you are correct about most bombers, especially if you consider most middle-easterners Caucasian. Most are males.

        None of this is relevant to the “mystery” I was addressing however.

        • Most consider Middle Easterners to be white. I’m pretty confident of the covert implied “mystery” being solved though. Based on your conclusion, any crime can be solved just by knowing a person’s name.
          That’s not how it works, thank goodness.

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