Harnett sheriff: Students collaborate on bomb threats to skip class, but agencies in other states are slow to press charges

The Harnett County Board of Education is granting the sheriff's office nearly $20,000 for a new bomb-sniffing K-9 — and officials say it's all because students are trying to skip out on school.

Sheriff Wayne Coats says his deputies have spent hours investigating bomb and mass shooter threats since October, and all seven threats made against Harnett County Schools turned out to be hoaxes. Authorities have to treat each threat like it's real, which means each call costs his office as much as $7,000. His deputies also have to request help from law enforcement officials in Fort Bragg and Raleigh to search every inch of the school

Three of the seven threats were made by teenagers who did not live in North Carolina, according to Coats. One student called in the threat from Oklahoma after her friend, who goes to school in Harnett County, told her she didn't want to go to school that day.

Coats said his office has reached out to police agencies in Louisiana, Oklahoma and Tennessee to ask for additional evidence in each of these threats. But, he said that law enforcement agencies in other states aren't interested in pressing charges against minors for the threats.

Harnett sheriff: Bomb threat at Coats-Erwin Middle traced to out-of-state boys playing X-Box

But Coats said these fake bomb threats are depleting his deputies' time and resources, and he wants students to know that law enforcement is serious about putting an end the hoaxes.

Making a threat against a school can cost students jail time or hefty fines, according to Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman.

Threaten a school on social media? You could spend big $ in fines, time in jail

Threatening "mass violence" toward a school is a Class H felony, which applies even if the person making the threat is under 18. A Class H felony can mean a prison sentence of four to 25 months.

Authorities said it's not uncommon for there to be an increase in social media threats following a school shooting. Many schools in North Carolina saw threats increase after two school shootings in September — one at Mount Tabor High School and the other at New Hanover High School.

WRAL News reached out to the Federal Bureau of Investigations to ask whether minors who threaten schools across state lines could face federal charges or punishments.