MINUTES. POLICE. >> TONIGHT'S AND 11 YEAR-OLD THIS 11 YEAR-OLD IS FACING CHARGES AFTER DEPUTIES SAY HE MADE A PRANK CALL ABOUT A SHOOTING AT GULF COAST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. SO THIS HAPPENED AT LEHIGH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, ABC SEVEN'S HOPE SALMAN IS JOINING US FROM THE SCHOOL TONIGHT WITH HOW DEPUTIES FIGURED OUT IT WAS THAT KID WHO MADE THE CALL HOPE. >> DING DITCH IS ONE PRANK, BUT CALLING 9-1-1 TO REPORT A FAKE SHOOTING. NOW, THAT'S NOT FUNNY. THAT'S WHAT DEPUTIES SAY A STUDENT DID HERE AT LEHIGH ELEMENTARY. THE WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD WAS FULL OF POLICE TO HAVE ROOM. >> WE GO DOWN TO THE SAY, DYLAN. THE HEART CALLED 9-1-1 WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON FROM CLASS SAYING THERE WAS A SCHOOL SHOOTING. INVESTIGATORS SAY DYLAN DIDN'T WHILE JOKING WITH ANOTHER STUDENT WHO TOLD HIM NOT TO. THEY QUICKLY DETERMINED THIS WAS A SWATTING CALL THAT CAME FROM THE BOY CELL PHONE. >> PARENTS WERE NOT NOTIFIED RIGHT AWAY. IT MIGHT MAKE, YOU KNOW. >> HYSTERIA. YOU KNOW, I IT IT'S KIND OF >> IN A WAY THEY HAD TO INVESTIGATE SEE WHAT IT WAS RIGHT AFTER SCHOOL DEPUTIES INTERVIEWED HIS FAMILY TOLD EM HE USUALLY IS A PRANKSTER BUT HAS NEVER DONE ANYTHING DANGEROUS LIKE THIS BEFORE. SOME PARENTS IN THE PICKUP LINE TODAY SAY THEY TRUST THE SCHOOL SECURITY ARE DISAPPOINTED THAT THEY DID NOT GET AN EMAIL UNTIL LATE LAST NIGHT. I MEAN, I DO FEEL THAT THEY SHOULD LIKE, YOU KNOW, LIKE THEY DID INVESTIGATED. AND, YOU KNOW, I MEAN, AS LONG AND WHATEVER THEY SEE, DEPUTIES SPOKE TO THAT BOY AT HIS HOME WHERE THEY ARRESTED HIM FOR MAKING A FALSE REPORT REPORTING IN LEHIGH ACRES. HOPE SALMAN, ABC, 7. >> IT GOT INTO CELEBRITY THEY'VE DONE TO SCHOOL'S. THEY'VE DONE IT TO BUSINESSES, NOT ON OF ON THE COUNTRY OVER THYEARS. >> SWATTING IS A DANGEROUS CRIMINAL HOAX THAT WE HAVE SEEN ALL ACROSS OUR COUNTRY. SO LET'S GET YOU MORE ON HOW THIS THUS WATTERS, MAKE A PHONE CALL OR SEND A TIP TO POLICE SHARING A FAKE STORY ABOUT A REAL SERIOUS CRIME, SENDING DOZENS UPON DOZENS OF DEPUTIES ON THE GROUND, EVEN IN THE SKY ARMED FOR WHAT THEY THINK IS A THREAT THAT THEY'RE GOING TO MEET CHANNING. TURNS OUT OUR STATE HAS BEEN SEEING A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN SWATTING INCIDENTS. >> WE CHECKED WITH THE FRIDA DEPARTMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT. THERE WERE 123 SWATTING INCIDENTS REPORTED IN THE STATE AND 2020 ALONE. THIS REPRESENTS A 46% INCREASE FROM THE PREVIOUS YEAR. FDLE ALSO SAID THESE INCIDENTS RESULTED IN MORE THAN $400,000 IN PROPERTY DAMAGE. NOW, FDLE HAS A TASK FORCE TO INVESTIGATE AND PROSECUTE SWATTING CASES, INCLUDING LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES AND THE FBI. >> ONE OF THE CHALLENGES OF PROSECUTING SWATTING CASES IS IDENTIFYING THE PERSON OR THE GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY MADE THAT CALL. SO SWAT ERS, THEY OFTEN USE TECHNIQUES SUCH AS CALLER ID SPOOFING OR ANONYMOUS E-MAIL ACCOUNTS TO AVOID DETECTION. HOWEVER, LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES HAVE BEEN WORKING TO COMBAT THIS PROBLEM TO FIND OUT WHO MADE THAT CALL. SWATTING HAS BEEN ON THE FBI'S RADAR FOR NEARLY 2 DECADES, LEADING THEM TO CREATE A NATIONAL DATABASE FOR THIS CRIME. STARTING IN MAY OF 2023, THE DATABASE HAS ALREADY TRACKED 129 SWATTING INCIDENTS AROUND OUR COUNTRY. >> THE BEST CASE SCENARIO IN SWATTING CALLS. IT'S NOT REAL AND NO ONE IS HURT. WHAT ISRAEL, HOWEVER, ARE THE CONSEQUENCES. TAKE A LOOK IN FLORIDA. SWATTING IS CONSIDERED A THIRD-GREE FELONY. >> THAT IS PUNISHABLE UP TO 5 YEARS IN PRISON. HOWEVER, IF THE SWATTING INCIDENT RESULTS IN SERIOUS BODILY INJURY, THE OFFENSE IS UPGRADED TO SECOND-DEGREE FELONY AND POSSIBLY UP TO 15 YEARS IN PRISON. IF THE SWATTING INCIDENT RESULTS IN DEATH, IT IS