Deputies in Flagler County have arrested a 16-year-old girl accused of using a state school-safety app to send a string of fake threats against local campuses, her own family, and herself.

Lilyana Blanco, of Palm Coast, faces charges of unlawful use of a two-way communication device and making a false report concerning the violent use of firearms. Investigators say Blanco repeatedly filed bogus tips through FortifyFL, a platform meant for reporting suspicious activity around Florida schools, in an effort to provoke SWATting responses.

The investigation began Aug. 13 after a tip came through the app claiming Blanco’s sibling had a gun and was “instructed to shoot up the lunchroom” at Rymfire Elementary School. Detectives with the Criminal Intelligence Unit traced the submission to Blanco’s home, went to the residence to interview family members, and took her phone as evidence.

While deputies were still in the house speaking with her mother, a second tip landed on the app warning that someone was heading to Flagler Palm Coast High School to “shoot it up.” Law enforcement rushed to the high school and quickly ruled out any danger. Investigators later determined Blanco had sent the second alert from another device in the house while deputies were still inside talking to her mother.

Search warrants served on Aug. 19 resulted in the seizure of several electronic devices from the home. A forensic examination by the agency’s digital unit confirmed Blanco’s phone was used to transmit the earlier reports.A month later, on Sept. 14, another anonymous tip warned that Blanco planned to kill her family, burn down her house that night, and had nearly killed a fellow student earlier that day. Deputies went to the home to check on her safety. Blanco denied sending the alert and told deputies she had no access to any electronics, but investigators tracked the digital trail back to her once again.

Detectives secured a juvenile custody order on Sept. 16 and arrested Blanco later that day in the parking lot of the Palm Coast Landings shopping center. Deputies noted she had a new cellphone with her, which had been bought and given to her by her mother after the initial search warrant.

Blanco was processed at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility before being transferred to the Volusia Family Resource Center under the custody of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.

Sheriff Rick Staly addressed the arrest in a statement:

“This girl repeatedly and dangerously abused a tool that students, parents, and the community rely on to help keep our schools safe, appearing to do so for no other reason than to cause fear, chaos, and waste our time. In fact, our agency has had to dedicate over 300 hours to investigate her baseless threats, and detectives are continuing to connect the dots on more threats they believe she made. Although this is an extreme case, it’s a prime example of why it is important for parents to be monitoring their children’s use of electronics and know what they’re up to online. This never should have been allowed to happen, but this child was enabled by her mother, who knew she had a history of making false claims, and continued to allow her to access the internet with no restrictions. If she was looking for attention, she got it.”

The sheriff’s office stated that detectives are looking into other false reports tied to Blanco dating back to October 2025. Flagler investigators are also working alongside other law enforcement agencies looking into similar swatting reports in neighboring jurisdictions, and additional charges could follow.