Seminole County deputies respond to two swatting hoaxes in Sanford

A false bomb threat at the Central Florida Zoo and another swatting call at a Sanford home forced Seminole County deputies to split attention between two unrelated emergencies within about an hour on Sunday. Both calls were later ruled hoaxes, no injuries were reported, and no arrests had been made.

At the zoo, an unidentified man called and claimed pipe bombs had been planted inside the facility at 3755 W. Seminole Blvd. Staff kept the caller on the line long enough to alert security and get 911 involved, and deputies arrived within minutes to sweep the property. Nothing suspicious was found, but the call still triggered a high-stakes response at a place crowded with guests, employees and animals.

The other incident unfolded at a home in Sanford’s Terra Bella neighborhood and was reported around 2:34 p.m. The Seminole County Sheriff’s Office aviation unit joined ground deputies in checking the area, and that search also turned up nothing. Officials said the two hoaxes did not appear to be connected.

The disruption went beyond the immediate scenes. False calls like these pull deputies, aviation resources and dispatch attention away from real emergencies while creating fear for residents, workers and visitors who do not know at first whether a threat is real. At the zoo, that concern is amplified because the institution has already been updating its response plans as threats against zoos have become more common nationwide.

A recent wave of hoax bomb and active-shooter calls has prompted evacuations and closures at several zoos around the country, and the FBI has described swatting as an increasing national problem. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums has also said safety and security are critical to protecting guests, staff and animals. For Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens, that planning appears to have helped staff react quickly and calmly when the false alarm hit Sanford.

The zoo has also been under added strain in recent months. In April, it accepted 13 sloths from the Sloth World rescue situation and placed them in quarantine under veterinary monitoring. The facility later announced the death of Bandit, one of the sloths brought into its care.

The Seminole County Sheriff’s Office says incident and crash reports are available through its public records system. For now, the unanswered question is who made the calls and whether investigators can trace the hoaxes before they turn into criminal charges.