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Florida cops debunked a false claim that a 17-year-old student — allegedly beaten by nine classmates after standing up to bullies — was planning to shoot up a high school football game, authorities said.
The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the threat was fabricated and determined to be non-credible after deputies interviewed the teen victim and his family, according to Fox 35 Orlando and the Osceola County Gazette.
Authorities said the rumor was planted “to make the victim look bad” and distract from the cruel off-campus beatdown that led to the arrests of nine Harmony High School students on Wednesday.
Officials confirmed in a press conference Friday morning there was “no way possible” the teen was planning an attack, warning that anyone spreading false reports or attempting to mislead the investigation will face criminal charges, the Gazette reported.
“We want to send a clear message to students sending clear misinformation and mislead the active investigation since the fight: we are going to arrest you, whether in school or out of school, and it’s not funny anymore,” said Maj. Alejandro Guevara.
The football game between Harmony High and St. Cloud High School went on as scheduled Friday night.
The alleged ringleaders — 18-year-old high schoolers Brian Alexander Ramirez and Quianelle Antonio Reyes-Cintron — stood before a judge Thursday.
“You’ve been arrested on a warrant in which a court has already found probable cause,” the judge told Ramirez, according to Fox 35 Orlando.
Reyes-Cintron’s attorney claimed that there was no evidence that he touched the victim — adding that the affidavit cites videos depicting Reyes-Cintron but did not state that he was making contact with anyone.
The judge declined to reconsider.
The nine Florida high school students — one just 14 — were arrested after a disturbing video caught them viciously beating a classmate who stopped them from bullying a girl in the cafeteria, according to police.
The students were seen being led away in cuffs after the teen was filmed being battered. He needed 11 stitches in his head.
“This was a serious attack,” Capt. Kimberly Montes of the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office told Fox 35 — calling the accused kids “cowards” who should be tried as adults.
“This was not one-on-one, two-on-one — this was nine students against one, and we’re just lucky he didn’t receive more serious injuries than what he got,” she said.
“We tell kids all the time, ‘Stand up for somebody else!’ It takes a lot of courage to do that. He did this and these nine students that beat him up are the ones that are cowards.”
The victim had first stepped in to tell the bullies to stop throwing carrots at a girl, sparking an argument with two of them before he left the cafeteria with the girl, officials told the outlet.
After the final bell, one of the original bullies followed him to the parking lot, which eight others joining in the attack.