VERO BEACH — The man authorities say made multiple calls to 911 Tuesday reporting a bomb threat to Vero Beach Elementary School might have been motivated by his arrest late last year, Sheriff Deryl Loar said Wednesday.
Sheriff Loar said Matthew Hawks, 26, of the 900 block of 44th Court, had been a credentialed volunteer at both Vero Beach Elementary and Dodgertown Elementary schools up until his arrest in December on a charge of battery on a child.
That arrest followed an incident in October 2013, during which Hawks was accused of inappropriately touching a young girl, Sheriff Loar said. The arrest led to the School District revoking Hawks’ credentials at both schools.
Sheriff Loar said he did not know if the loss of connection to the elementary schools prompted Hawks to make the bomb threat.
The calls started coming in after 4 p.m. to the Sheriff’s Office 911 call center and detectives were quick to get on the line with the caller – later identified as Hawks.
“I’m going to detonate a bomb at the Vero Beach Elementary School at 1 p.m. tomorrow (April 2) afternoon,” said Hawks. The call sounded like a recording and was hard to hear, according to the report released by the Sheriff’s Office.
A second call at 4:10 p.m. to the same phone line stated the same threat again multiple times. Dispatch asked “What’s the problem? Why would you want to do that?”
The caller laughed as he replied. The reply was redacted in the report. Then Hawks said he had to go now.
A third call at 4:19 p.m. was received, then a fourth at 4:23 p.m. During the calls, Hawks referenced the Newtown, Conn., shootings and the shooter, Adam Lanza.
“The Indian River Sheriff’s Office is not going to tolerate that,” Sheriff Loar said.
The Indian River County Sheriff’s Office called the St. Lucie County Bomb Squad for assistance to evacuate and sweep the school. No devices were found at the campus and school resumed normal operations on Wednesday.
“That campus is completely safe,” Sheriff Loar said.
The Sheriff’s Office was able to trace the 911 calls back to Hawks’ phone, though he had denied making the calls.
“We decided to pay him a visit,” Sheriff Loar said, adding that detectives seized eight computers and discovered a shotgun in the home Hawks shares with his grandfather. No explosive materials were found in the home.
The computers will be analyzed and could result in more charges, according to the Sheriff.
Because the threats came in after school hours and law enforcement swept the school multiple times, the School District did not issue an emergency phone call to parents.
“We’re not here to alarm 750 parents,” said Schools Superintendent Dr. Fran Adams, who went on to say, “You make a call as to when to make people fearful. … We want (parents) to be reassured that if there was any issue of safety that (the school district) would notify them.”
Deputies were at the school Wednesday morning to reassure staff, students and parents that the school was safe.
Hawks has since been released from the county jail on $5,000 bail and currently faces one charge of felony false report of planting a bomb.
Sheriff Loar said that law enforcement would increase its presence around both Vero Beach Elementary and Dodgertown Elementary, as well as call on the Vero Beach Police Department to keep watch on the Vero Beach Boys and Girls Club – where Hawks had also volunteered.
Despite the bomb threat coming in on April 1 – April Fool’s Day – Sheriff Loar said the bomb threat was not an April Fool’s prank.
VERO BEACH — One person is in custody after a bomb threat was made on Vero Beach elementary yesterday, according to the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office.
After investigating, authorities determined the threat to be a hoax.
The Sheriff’s Office has not yet released information regarding the person who has been taken into custody. The agency expects to release more information later today.
VERO BEACH — A bomb threat has been made on Vero Beach Elementary School, according to authorities.
Indian River County Sheriff’s and the Indian River County Fire Department are on scene. It is considered an active investigation.
More information will be updated when it becomes available.