Brooksville man arrested in Bradenton Marina swatting hoax
A fake 988 chat claimed a man on a Twin Dolphin Marina boat had killed a woman and planned suicide, triggering SWAT and drone units.
A false 988 crisis chat sent SWAT, negotiators and drones to Twin Dolphin Marina and led to the arrest of Brooksville resident Ronald Sellars, 33.
Police identified the man as Ronald Sellars, 33. He was arrested Friday, July 11, and remains in custody at the Hernando County Jail. He is charged with filing a false report concerning the use of firearms in a violent manner, a second-degree felony, and unlawful use of a two-way communications device, a third-degree felony.
The alarm began May 29, when Bradenton police were notified of suicidal comments made through the national 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline chat function. The message claimed the sender was on a boat at Twin Dolphin Marina, said he had killed at least one woman, and said he intended to kill himself. The chat also included the boat owner’s phone number, which made the threat appear more credible and helped trigger a large emergency response.
Officers from the Bradenton Police Department responded with the SWAT Team, Hostage Negotiation Team and Drone Unit. When police reached the boat owner and a woman connected to the vessel, they found both unharmed and unaware of the online threats. Investigators later learned the woman was Sellars’ wife, and Sellars had repeatedly tried to contact the couple on May 28 and May 29.
Sellars denied sending the 988 messages, but digital evidence linked his devices to the chat logs.
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