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Police confirm they know who is behind series of school bomb hoax calls

MELBOURNE, Fla. — Melbourne police confirmed Monday that they know who is behind a series of hoax threats to schools around Central Florida.

WFTV found out the suspect is already facing dozens of criminal charges in his home country od Canada, for something police call "swatting."

It refers to the practice of calling in a false threat to get a swat team to respond.

In the April 15 hoax call made to Melbourne High School, the caller said, “They’re all going to die. Do I make myself clear?”

The caller then said he put a timed bomb on the school property.

For 21 minutes, the caller, who has been identified as a 16-year-old from Ottawa, taunted a non-emergency dispatcher.

He told her the bomb contained a C4 plastic explosive and a powerful nerve gas.

It was the first of four calls to Melbourne police about the school, and police said the suspect bragged about the calls via Twitter.

“As soon as we became aware of this individual bragging about his hoax calls on Twitter, we started contacting other agencies that were victimized, or used by that person’s calls,” said Sgt. Sheridan Shelley.

According to the FBI, in Florida, the caller targeted schools in Orlando and Tampa.

Investigators said he made hoax calls in schools in California, New York, Maryland, Connecticut and in Canada.

“The suspect also made claims he was for hire; that you could solicit him to swat your school to call in a false threat for payment,” Shelley said.

Police believe that’s exactly what happened in the April 15 call at Melbourne High School. The student police believe requested the 16-year-old to make the threat is facing charges.

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