ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Three Creekside High School students have been arrested after Youth Services Unit deputies learned they were discussing a “lethal hit list” targeting multiple students, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office said.
Deputies said the students -- ages 15, 14 and 14 -- shared group text messages identifying “target students,” including photographs with faces circled, aerial photographs of Creekside High with an on-campus location circled, and the use of firearms.
The Sheriff’s Office said the messages were considered a credible threat against other students.
According to an arrest report, the students were part of a chat group that was formed as a Russian Communist Group named “The United Boyopolis Socialist Republic.” The group was formed by the students after they were bullied by other students. The group created an application for potential group membership and actively sought to recruit others, the investigation found.
The group chat included a schedule of classes of the targeted students, their home addresses, photos of the targets and faces were circled to identify them for the group, according to the Sheriff’s Office. One student who was fearful enough of the chat decided to report it to the school staff.
Deputies said the “hit list” targeted students the group wanted to physically harm and the “lethal hit list” targeted students the group wanted to kill.
“Originally this was a hit list,” St. Johns County Sheriff Robert Hardwick said in an interview with The Morning Show. “Basically with the threat to kind of harm or beat up these these kids in this list. And then it quickly switched over to a lethal hit list where they were going to kill these kids.”
The three teens are charged with written threats to kill or do bodily harm and unlawful use of a two-way communications device.
“We are convinced that these young men were going to follow through with this lethal hit list with violence,” Hardwick said.
News4JAX is not identifying the students because of their ages and the nature of the charges.
Creekside High Principal Steve McCormick sent out a message to all parents a little before 11 a.m. Friday, addressing what happened.
The message said in part:
“This has been an ongoing police investigation and the students involved were not on campus this week. Families of students involved or mentioned in the threat were immediately notified. This situation was immediately addressed with the school, district and SJSO. Initial consequences were applied in accordance with our student code of conduct and will include an additional review by the district disciplinary committee.”
Creekside High Principal Steve McCormick
News4JAX asked what specific disciplinary action was taken against the three students and how many students were on the lists.
“We do not know the specifics of the list. That would be for the SJSO (to answer). The students have received discipline in accordance with the student code of conduct at a Level 4 offense, and it will be under review by the district’s discipline committee which may apply additional consequences,” a district spokeswoman said.
The district later said that five to six students were targeted and their families have been notified.
The spokeswoman said she could not elaborate on the specific punishment because of FERPA, but noted that the students have not been in school since Tuesday.
A parent with a child at Creekside High said she hopes the teens are held accountable.
“This is not a joke,” she said. “They think that they can just do the stuff and get away with it when you cannot. You cannot do this.”
The parent, who asked not to be identified, said she wanted to know more about how the deputies were able to thwart the threat.
“The first thing as a mom that I wanted to know was who was on that list. That is what scared me the most. Where is this coming from?” she said. “I am very, very scared. As a mom, you want to put your kids in a bubble and protect them and keep them away from bullies.”
SJCSO said it was first notified about suspicious text messages on Sept. 29, but they were only allegations and there was no evidence at that time. The phones of two students were taken for a forensic download the same day. The Sheriff’s Office said it received the forensic download from the phones late Wednesday — which included the “hit list,” text messages and photos — and the arrest was made the next day.
The students are now in custody in Daytona Beach where they will be held for at least 21 days. SJCSO said the boys’ parents are cooperating in the investigation.
Hardwick said stopping the teens “prevented a potential tragedy.”
“Nothing is more important to me than the safety of our children and this is another example of the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office’s commitment to protect the more than 50,000 students who attend classes on a daily basis,” Hardwick said in a news release. “I am proud of the youth services deputies assigned to this investigation, who acted quickly on the information that was provided.”
The Sheriff’s Office has two full-time threat assessment deputies assigned to St. Johns County Schools who are specially trained to investigate threats, coordinate resources, and intervene to ensure student and faculty safety.
“I’m proud of our Deputy Sheriff for their immediate response on this,” Hardwick told The Morning Show. “I’m proud of our partnership with the St. Johns County School District.”
Hardwick also called on parents to be involved in their child’s life, and for them to know who they hang out with and what they do online.
“I hate to use the cliche, ‘if you see something, say something,’ but we gotta be more involved in these children’s lives and hold them accountable, and be responsible for their actions,” Hardwick said. “Because I don’t know if every parent knows what exactly is going on in these cell phones.”
St. Johns County Superintendent Tim Forson asked parents to speak with their kids and be aware of what they are doing. He said in a statement in part:
“There appears to be a lack of understanding of the serious nature of threatening statements that have been made. I would like to remind us, as parents, to review the activity of our children on social media and online activities.”
St. Johns County Superintendent Tim Forson
Principal McCormick said counselors were at the school Friday to meet with students if they needed to talk.
For more information about school safety and reporting suspicious activity, visit: https://getfortifyfl.com/ or https://www.stjohns.k12.fl.us/sss/safety/.