Nicholas Godfrey: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

nicholas godfrey

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Nicholas Godfrey is a Fivay High School student in Pasco County, Florida who is accused of seeking a hit on a faculty member on Instagram. He says he was just joking, officials say.

Godfrey, 18, has been charged with a felony as sheriff’s and school officials stressed in a joint press conference that they will take such social media postings seriously, even if the person making them, as Godfrey allegedly did, claimed it wasn’t serious.

“We talk about in Pasco County that we have a partnership with the sheriff’s office and the schools, and that’s absolutely in place,” Sheriff Chris Nocco said. Kurt Browning, the district superintendent, said in the news conference that Fivay has an issue with “kids not understanding respect and civility,” which has also led to recent fights.

Both officials said that parents need to take an active role in monitoring their children’s social media.

People took different views on social media. “Does he need to be punished… of course! Don’t let him walk at graduation… arresting him for being a stupid kid and making a ridiculous joke on Instagram is a bit much in my opinion,” wrote one. Some felt there wasn’t enough evidence he actually intended to follow through. “I think the guy was probably joking but I guess the whole point is, do we really know when somebody is joking or not in today’s world? We’ve seen lots of people make threats online and follow through. Then everybody screams ‘why didn’t they do anything? The red flags were there?'” another person countered. The school is located in Hudson, Florida.

Here’s what you need to know:


1. The Sheriff Accused Godfrey of Making a Series of Threatening Posts on Instagram


Sheriff Nocco announced the arrest of Nicholas Godfrey, 9/25/01, for “attempting to solicit and conspire for a first-degree felony to kill someone. That person he tried to kill was a member of the Fivay (High School) staff.” On Instagram, Nicholas wrote within an Instagram message on the Fivay fan club, “I need a guy who could kill someone,” Nocco revealed in the news conference.

The sheriff described other Instagram posts as: “We have $100,000 for the victim’s head” and “No joke, I need him eliminated as soon as possible.”

“As the victim and their family imagine getting that notification from the Sheriff’s Office saying hey we need to protect you,” added Nocco.


2. The Sheriff Promised a ‘Zero Tolerance’ Environment for School Threats After Authorities Allegedly Traced the Instagram Messages to Godfrey’s IP Address

Pasco Co court records

Court records say Godfrey was accused of public order crimes, and his full name is Nicholas Robert Godfrey. Authorities traced the IP address of the computer that posted the Instagram messages to Godfrey’s home, according to Fox6.

He hasn’t been expelled yet but that will come before the school board, said the superintendent, who added that he would make that recommendation.

The sheriff and superintendent both talked sternly about such threats.

“There will be zero tolerance. You threaten a member of the school district who’s out there trying to do their job, to educate children…. We will come hunt you down. We will track you down,” said Nocco.

The sheriff said in the news conference that “everybody’s in the schools” because officials want to protect the teachers, administrators and students in the County. “We have to protect the most valuable things we have, that’s our children,” Nocco said.


3. Godfrey’s Parents Expressed Shock at His Arrest; the Student Did Not Have Prior issues

When the detective arrived at Godfrey’s home, the parents “were shocked. They had no idea. That is another sad reality of what’s going on,” Nocco said.

Pasco County Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning said that Godfrey had “ruined his life by a simple threat on social media. I was elated we had apprehended him but very saddened by what this young man has just done to the rest of his life.”

A detective on the case said that Godfrey had no clear direction or plan to follow through with the threats. He claimed he was “joking around.” Authorities couldn’t find any reason Godfrey was angry at the “faculty member,” described only as a staff member at Fivay.

The school superintendent said he’s tired of meeting with the press. Social media issues are incredibly disruptive in the schools, he said.

Browning said he has begged students and pleaded with parents “to know what your kids are doing on social media and who they are talking to. It’s a community effort.”

He said the district is a “microcosm of the communities we serve.” He said he was begging parents to help keep order and civility in the schools. “We continue to make school safety a priority in this district.”


4. Godfrey Claimed He Was Joking & Was Not a ‘Bad Student’ Previously, Authorities Said

Sheriff’s officials indicated that Godfrey claimed he was joking, but they are taking the threats seriously all the same.

“This individual may have thought this was funny. May have thought they were committing a joke,” Nocco said. The Pasco sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook, “The number of Florida youth charged with school related offenses has risen steadily in the last three years. School related offenses include making false reports concerning a bomb, explosives, or firearms.”

“After speaking with Mr. Godfrey he did not have any clear direction or I guess plan to follow through with this as he said but more he was joking around,” said Pasco County Detective David Dacey.

“This is not a joke,” warned the sheriff. “This is another warning out there… You’re going to put someone in that type of situation to think their life is threatened for doing their job we will protect that person and we will come after you.”

Nocco said he didn’t know what triggered the threats.

He said of Godfrey, “You look at his past. It’s not like he was a bad student… the record did not show someone consistently bad…” or who had issues. It doesn’t matter what their intent is. When you do it and you put it out there on social media, you’ve committed that crime.”


5. Sheriff’s Officials Are Dealing With Unrelated Fights at the High School

Nocco said that, within the past week, there were several incidents at Fivay school. There were two fights, in which arrests were made. There were people just going up to each other acting like they were going to fight. He said they sent more officers in response to those incidents than needed to send a message. “That school is run by the administration and teachers, not by the students,” Nocco said.

The vast majority of kids there “just want to learn,” he said.

Moving forward, there will be another officer assigned to the school.

“We want to make sure there’s an extra presence,” he said. “There will be consequences for negative actions.” People won’t be allowed to threaten other people, according to the sheriff.

Godfrey wasn’t involved in the previous fights at the school. The detective said he wasn’t aware of whether he actually had the money to carry out the threat. The posts were brought to the attention of the school resource officer. The parents were surprised because “their kid doesn’t get into trouble.”