Osceola Sheriff: 20 Extra Deputies and Dogs Guard Harmony Football

Eleven stitches was the medical cost of a high school fight last week, but the security cost for the resulting Friday night football game is higher. The Osceola County Sheriff's Office confirmed that 20 extra deputies, K-9 units, and mounted patrol officers will guard the matchup between Harmony High School and St. Cloud High School on October 23.

The expanded security follows the investigation of two separate shooting threats. Officials received the first tip on Thursday night. Text messages containing the same claim began circulating around the school on Friday morning. Deputies reviewed both reports and determined that neither threat was genuine.

The threats spread after nine students were arrested in connection with an assault on another student near the Harmony campus. The attack occurred on October 16. Several students beat a 17-year-old who was taken to a hospital for treatment. The victim received 11 stitches. Authorities linked the physical altercation to a lunchtime incident where the victim reportedly intervened in a dispute involving a group of students throwing carrots at a girl.

Investigators said the person who issued the false shooting threats claimed the responsibility of the injured teenager. Officials examined that specific allegation and found it to be false as well. The sheriff's office had not identified the originator of the threats or established any relationship between that person and the injured student.

The nine students arrested on October 21 range in age from 14 to 18. They face charges of felony aggravated battery and felony inciting a riot. St. Cloud Police Department officers will also be present at the stadium alongside the Osceola deputies.

Captain Kim Montes of the Osceola County Sheriff's Office addressed the false reporting. “False reports of a shooting will not be tolerated and if the suspect is identified, that person will be charged,” Montes said. As of Friday, the source of the threats remained unknown.