Deputies: Man accused in school threats allowed to enter Canada after arrest

A man who was accused of threatening to place bombs in four Orange County schools, resulting in thousands of students staying home late last week, is now in Canada, authorities said.

Jesus Kong, 23, also known as Jesus Matute and Jessie Eloah Calix, was detained for questioning while trying to cross the Canadian border and ultimately released, Orange County sheriff’s spokesman Jeff Williamson said Monday.

Williamson did not identify the specific border crossing.

A spokeswoman for the FBI said Kong was not a threat to the Orlando area. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Orlando has declined to press charges, the spokeswoman said.

When he was detained, Kong “appeared to be in some form of distress,” Williamson said. He has a history of encounters with law enforcement, the Sheriff’s Office said.

There was a warrant for his arrest out of another state, but because of the type of the warrant, he was not extradited, the FBI said without elaborating.

Kong, a transient who has lived in Florida, California, Virginia and Maryland, is accused of posting threats on Twitter starting on July 24. The posts targeted William R. Boone High School, Edgewater High School, Colonial High School, Colonial Ninth Grade Center and Liberty Middle School, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Officials said Kong posted messages including, “I want to shoot a few [kids] at Liberty Middle School. I dislike homosexuals … “

Other posts detailed his plans to place pipe bombs in two schools and encouraged people to shoot up the schools.

The school district informed parents of the threats Wednesday, and on Thursday, about 2,000 students from the four schools were absent. More than half the absences were at Colonial High School.

About 540 students were absent from the four schools on Friday.

Last week was the first week of the fall semester.

chayes@orlandosentinel.com or dharris@orlandosentinel.com