Flagler Sheriff Rick Staly announced on Thursday that 11-year-old Noah Magee was responsible for over 20 calls placed to Flagler County and the surrounding area falsely threatening terrorism and shootings back in May. Magee lives in Henrico County, Virginia, nowhere near many of the locations he allegedly targeted. He’s accused of placing swatting calls to several counties in Florida and in several other states this year.
Staly painted a picture of a child who become chronically online during the pandemic, and became exposed to highly dark and violent material. He was said to have watched videos of things such as torturous animal abuse, human beheading, and murder pornography. His interactions with others online reportedly including extorting others to send him pornographic images of themselves and then extorting them for cryptocurrency in exchange for not releasing the images.
The investigation into Magee’s alleged crimes was led by the FCSO’s Detective First Class O’Barr, who at one point personally travelled to Virginia to interview Magee and his family. According to Staly, Magee admitted to all of the swatting calls to Flagler County, and acted not remorsefully but proudly. He reportedly treated each news headline like a trophy in his quest for notoriety.
Accompanying Staly at the press conference was a cavalry of local and state officials. This included Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, State Attorney for the 7th Judicial Circuit R.J. Larizza, Superintendent LaShakia Moore, and School Board Chair Will Furry.
Several electronic devices were seized from Magee at his Virginia residence, including two smartphones, two laptops, and a Meta headset that he reportedly used in the crimes. Overall, Magee is being charged with 14 felony counts of falsely reporting a bomb or shooting, 14 felony counts of unlawful usage of a two-way communication device, 14 misdemeanor counts of disrupting school functions, and one felony count of evidence tampering. More charges may come as investigations continue in several other jurisdictions.
One of the phone calls said to have been placed by Magee was played for the media at the press conference, containing disturbing claims that the caller had shot a teacher in the head at Flagler Palm Coast High School. He claimed to have used an ‘assault rifle fifteen’ (a common misnaming of the AR-15 which stands for Armalite Rifle). Other locations he reportedly placed threatening calls to included Volusia and other counties in Florida, plus locations in Maryland, Kansas, Nebraska, Tennessee, Alabama, Virginia, and Washington D.C. One of his alleged targets was the Maryland House of Representatives.
Though his youth makes Magee a shocking culprit for the violent and disturbing threats, Staly made it clear that Magee was intelligent and resourceful for his age. “He’s an online terrorist predator,” Staly said. He reportedly used technology to make his location, identity, and voice for the phone calls. His mother and brother, who were also interviewed, told law enforcement that Noah had a serious dark side and bleak sense of humor.
Magee is still being held in Virginia as of Thursday, but the plan is to extradite him to a juvenile detention center in Volusia County as he awaits the outcome of his criminal charges. State Attorney Larizza mentioned a possible indictment and didn’t rule out Magee being tried as an adult. Staly said it was unlikely he’d face federal charges despite having allegedly placed calls across state lines, due to federal prosecutors’ hesitance to take on a case against an 11-year-old.
Affected schools in Flagler County included Buddy Taylor Middle School, First Baptist Christian Academy, Flagler Palm Coast High School, Old Kings Elementary School, and Suncoast Community School. He reportedly claimed to have targeted Flagler County schools thanks to a friend from an online chatroom who attends BTMS. The friend, identified as ‘Adam’, is not likely to face criminal charges according to Staly.
Another juvenile arrested in May for allegedly swatting Flagler Schools, South Daytona’s Jaureion Smith, was said by Staly to be a copycat with no connections to Magee.
