An 18-year-old Florida man who phoned in a wave of fake bomb threats and swatting calls to schools in Metairie and other communities is now headed to prison, after a Jefferson Parish judge ruled the hoaxes wasted police resources and rattled students and staff for no good reason.
Judge Hands Down Prison Term
According to NOLA, Jayden Bullard pleaded guilty on July 1 to one count of terrorizing, two counts of communicating bomb threats and four counts of falsely communicating threats. Jefferson Parish Judge Lee Faulkner sentenced him to five years in prison, with a portion of that term suspended, and ordered that Bullard serve a period of active probation once he is released.
Calls Hit Schools In Louisiana And Florida
Investigators said several of the hoax calls targeted schools in Metairie, while in Florida Bullard was separately accused of making false threats to Boca Raton High School and multiple Miami-Dade schools on Dec. 2, 2024. WPTV reported that Palm Beach County detectives traced those Florida threats to a residence in Leesburg, where Bullard told investigators he had coordinated some of the calls with others on Discord.
Local Detectives Link The Calls
Jefferson Parish detectives, NOLA reports, tied the Metairie incidents to a series of phoned bomb threats to Lutheran High School and Haynes Academy for Advanced Studies that forced evacuations in December 2024. Investigators also linked those Metairie hoaxes to similar incidents in other states and said one swatting call sent officers racing to an apartment connected to another teenager while they were still working the case.
Why Prosecutors Treat Swatting As Serious
Federal authorities have ramped up prosecutions of swatting and interstate threat schemes, arguing that such hoaxes put civilians and first responders in danger and drain public safety budgets. The Justice Department has secured multi-year prison terms in other nationwide swatting sprees.
Officials did not immediately disclose where Bullard will serve his time or whether state authorities will seek restitution from him for the costs of evacuations and emergency responses. The case highlights how quickly online taunts and gaming-room bravado can spill into real-world chaos, pulling police across jurisdictions into tense, hours-long lockdowns that never should have happened.
