Friday Game On: 20 Extra Officers Deployed After 9 Arrests Over Attack

The Harmony High School and St. Cloud High School football game remains on the schedule for Friday night, Oct. 23, with a heavier police presence after the Osceola County Sheriff's Office investigated shooting threats and deemed them false.

The sheriff's office first received a tip Thursday night about a shooting planned at the game. Text messages carrying the same threat circulated at the school Friday morning. Deputies looked into both the tip and the messages and found neither to be genuine.

Security at Harmony High School will include added deputies, K-9 units and mounted patrol officers. The St. Cloud Police Department will also have officers on hand, according to the sheriff's office.

Investigators also examined an allegation that the false threats were tied to a teenager injured in an earlier attack and found that claim to be false as well. The sheriff's office has not identified who started the threats or whether that person knows the injured student.

The earlier attack took place Oct. 16 near Harmony High School, where several students allegedly beat a 17-year-old. The teen went to a hospital and received 11 stitches. The sheriff's office linked the assault to an incident during lunch that day in which a group of students threw carrots at a girl. Nine students, ages 14 to 18, were arrested Oct. 21 on charges of felony aggravated battery and felony inciting a riot.

OCSO Captain Kim Montes said anyone behind the false reports would face consequences. "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 person who originated the threats had not been identified.