PALM COAST, Fla. – A 16-year-old Palm Coast girl is accused of repeatedly using Florida’s school safety reporting system to submit false threats involving shootings, her family and other students, triggering law enforcement responses at schools and her own home.
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office said investigators linked a series of FortifyFL reports submitted between Aug. 13 and Sept. 15 to Lilyana Blanco. Detectives allege she used the system to provoke swatting incidents at multiple schools and her residence.
The investigation began Aug. 13 when FortifyFL received a tip claiming one of Blanco’s siblings had a firearm and had been “instructed to shoot up the lunchroom” at Rymfire Elementary School.
Detectives traced the report to a device at Blanco’s home, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
While investigators were at the residence interviewing Blanco’s mother, another FortifyFL report came in claiming someone was headed to Flagler Palm Coast High School to carry out a shooting.
Deputies responded to the high school and determined the threat was a hoax. Investigators said they also traced that report to Blanco’s residence and believe she submitted it from another device while detectives were still speaking with her mother.
On Aug. 19, detectives executed a search warrant at the home and seized several electronic devices. A forensic examination of Blanco’s phone later linked the device to FortifyFL tips, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Another threat reported in September
The investigation expanded after another FortifyFL report was submitted Sept. 14.
That tip claimed Blanco planned to kill her family and burn down her house that night. It also claimed she had planned to kill someone at her school earlier that day but changed her mind.
Deputies went to Blanco’s home to check on her and investigate.
Blanco denied making the threats and told deputies she did not have access to electronic devices, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Investigators said they nevertheless traced the report back to her.
Detectives obtained an order Sept. 16 to take Blanco into custody on charges of unlawful use of a two-way communication device and making a false report concerning a bomb, explosive, weapon of mass destruction or the use of firearms in a violent manner.
Investigators located her later that day in the parking lot of the Palm Coast Landings shopping center and took her into custody with assistance from the Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Apprehension Unit.
Detectives said Blanco had a new cellphone that her mother had purchased for her after investigators seized electronics during the August search.
Blanco was processed at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility and then taken to the Volusia Family Resource Center, where she was turned over to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.
Investigators looking at reports dating to 2025
Sheriff Rick Staly said the investigation has required more than 300 hours of work by the agency.
Detectives are also examining other false reports dating to October 2025 that they believe could be connected to Blanco. The Sheriff’s Office said its investigators are working with other law enforcement agencies on swatting incidents involving schools and residents outside Flagler County.
Additional charges could be filed as those investigations continue.