Kind of like the situation where the girl who was fooled by a stupid woman colluding with some kids, committed suicide out of her dismay. Though no casualties this time. There wasn’t any law forbidding it, though tort claims may be another story. We don’t just make up laws here on the spot, as desirable as we might wish that to be in a certain situation.
That's true and i don't think the sheriff was saying he wanted to "make up laws on the spot", just that he wanted to work with the DA and the Feds to see what laws are already on the book that might be applicable here in order to move it up from a misdemeanor to something more appropriate (not just to protect local authorities from public pressure but also to serve as a deterrent to other wackos who would think "gee, do something like this and all i have to worry about is a lousy misdemeanor!? haha, cool!"). Given the unusual nature of this case, i think it is warranted to take such a step.