On November 14, 11-year-old Noah Magee of Henrico, Virginia, who was responsible for a series of threats against Flagler County schools in May, was adjudicated delinquent. Judge Melissa Distler ordered him to be held in detention in Volusia County until he can be placed in a high-risk program, which includes counseling, mental health treatment, and continued education. The actual length of the program will be determined by his progress and cooperation with the program goals and is expected to be 12-18 months. Upon completing the in-custody program, Magee will be allowed to return to Virginia under conditional supervised release for a yet-to-be-determined amount of time. Among the restrictions is the use of electronics and supervised access to the internet. As part of the sentence, the Court Ordered restitution for $46,234.33 to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office for the cost of the investigation and responses to the schools from his calls.
On November 4, Magee pled No Contest in a Flagler County juvenile courtroom to a total of 46 felony and misdemeanor charges, including 15 felony counts of False Report of a Bomb, Explosive, WMD, or Firearm; 15 felony counts of Unlawful Use of a Two-Way Communications Device; 15 misdemeanor counts of Disrupting a School Function; and one felony count of Tampering with Physical Evidence.
“Hopefully, today’s sentencing and in-custody treatment set this young man on the right path, and he gets the help he needs,” said Sheriff Rick Staly. “This kid terrorized our schools and the community for days at the end of last school year. The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office spent 168 patrol hours responding to schools investigating his false threats. Our Homeland Security and Investigations Section, Cyber Crimes and Criminal Intelligence Unit, and Digital Forensics Unit spent another 755 hours investigating this case and cracking the technology he was using to track this kid down and bring him back to Flagler County to face justice for his actions. Let this case be a warning to anyone who thinks they can hide behind a computer screen — if you break the law in Flagler County, we will find you and arrest you, no matter where you are or how old you are. Finally, I want to thank our entire team that was involved, from 9-1-1 operators to patrol, detectives, and our professional support team that was welllved, as well as our partners at the federal and state level that helped solve and bring this case to a close. This was a team effort, and I thank them for a job well done. I also thank State Attorney Larizza and the prosecutors that prosecuted this case to a successful conclusion.”
Virginia 11-Year-Old Arrested Following 10-Week Investigation into May 2024 Flagler County.School Threats.
BUNNELL, Fla. — The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office has arrested following a 10-week investigation into a series of threats made to Flagler Count9 days in 2024-day period in May 2024.
On May 14, the FCSO Communications Center received a bomb threat towards Buddy Taylor Middle School. Following that initial threat, 20 more bomb or shooting threats were made towards Buddy Taylor and four other Flagler County schools — First Baptist Christian Academy, Flagler Palm Coast High School, Old Kings Elementary School, and Suncoast Community School — between May 14 and May 22. The calls were placed to the FCSO Communications Center, the Volusia Sheriff’s Office Communications Center, and the Lincoln Emergency Communications Center in Nebraska. In each, the caller made claims that a bomb or bombs had been placed; threatened to commit a mass shooting; or stated that they had just shot a teacher, student, or multiple people.
Through investigative means, Detective First Class O’Barr of FCSO’s Homeland Security Section — Criminal Intelligence Unit uncovered the caller’s identity as Noah Magee, an 11-year-old from Henrico, Virginia. DFC O’Barr also determined that the calls came from within Magee’s residence in Virginia. Working with the Henrico County Police Division, a search warrant was served at the residence.
Detectives interviewed Magee, as well as members of his family. Magee admitted to placing the swatting-type calls made towards Flagler County schools, as well as a threat made to the Maryland State House. Magee stated he used methods he had learned online in an attempt to circumvent law enforcement and hide his identity. He also stated that he devised the script he used for his calls and acted alone.
Following the interview, detectives contacted the National Center for Audio and Video Forensics to conduct a voice pattern analysis comparing audio from the phone calls to the interview. David Notowitz, an audio forensic expert and founder of NCAVF, verified that the voices matched.
FCSO’s Digital Forensics Unit conducted digital autopsies on the seized electronics and located forensic evidence that corroborated the investigative techniques used to identify and locate him. However, a search of Magee’s laptop revealed that he physically removed the hard drive, which detectives believed he had done to destroy evidence. During the search, evidence was located that Magee had made similar calls throughout Florida and the country.
On July 18, detectives obtained an “Order to Take Juvenile Into Custody” and Sheriff Rick Staly worked with Florida Department of Juvenile Justice Secretary Eric Hall and Virginia authorities to take Magee into custody. Magee was arrested for 14 felony counts of False Report Concerning the Planting of a Bomb, 14 felony counts of Unlawful Use of a Two-Way Communication Device, one felony count of Tampering with Physical Evidence, and 14 misdemeanor counts of Disrupting a School Function. He is being held in a juvenile detention facility in Virginia while Florida DJJ and the State Attorney’s Office for the Seventh Judicial Circuit work with Virginia authorities under the Interstate Juvenile Compact to transfer him to Florida authorities.
“With school coming up in less than a month, I know that the investigation was at the forefront of our community’s mind, which is why our detectives never stopped working to find the person responsible for terrorizing our students, parents, teachers, and our community,” said Sheriff Staly. “This kid’s behavior was escalating and becoming more dangerous. I’m glad we got him before he escalated out of control and hurt someone. I commend Detective O’Barr and our Criminal Intelligence Unit, our Real Time Crime Center team, dispatchers, and our patrol team, along with our federal and state partners for their incredible effort to solve this case.”
Magee is the second juvenile arrested in connection with the threats towards Flagler County schools last May. On May 17, FCSO, the Daytona Beach Police Department, and the Volusia Sheriff’s Office worked together to arrest 13-year-old Jaureion Smith. Smith had made a bomb threat towards BTMS, placed by phone call to the school’s front desk, in what was determined to be a copycat incident.
