A 14-year-old high school student in Florida Wednesday for his involvement in a false bomb threat that occurred in late August at Trinity Catholic High School in Ocala.
According to the Ocala Police Department, on Aug. 25, Det. Boyer responded to a bomb threat at Trinity Catholic High School. Upon arrival, the detective was informed that an unknown male caller left a voicemail that a bomb was in a specific room that would explode.
As police listened to the message, the school resource officer, OPD Officer Barry, noticed that the caller knew unique details of the school, leading officers to believe that someone who attended the school may have been responsible for the threat. The phone number was traced back to Germany.
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Detective Boyer contacted the FBI for support in this case. The FBI was able to identify the woman in Germany who owned the phone number, contacted her, and learned she had a teenage son.
German authorities summoned the mother and son on Sept. 22, and during an interrogation, the son admitted to having made the false bomb threat call. The teen said that he was instigated to do so by a high school student who attended the school, and he only knew the nickname of the student.
With just a nickname, SRO Barry was able to identify and locate the suspect student. Det. Boyer visited the school to interview the student, who acknowledged having an online friend from Germany and that they use an instant messaging app to communicate.
Det. Boyer viewed messages between the student and his German friend from the day of the bomb threat. The messages contained evidence of the student’s involvement, which he tried to hide. Det. Boyer then secured the student’s phone for evidence.
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The detective also called the student’s friend in Germany, who described the entire incident and confirmed that he made the bomb threat to the high school. The overseas friend told Det. Boyer that the student said he did not feel like going to school that day and told him to call the school and make a bomb threat.
Based on the teen in Germany admitting to police that he made the phone call after being instigated to do so by the suspect, together with the suspect having text message evidence concerning the incident, Det. Boyer believed this bomb threat would not have occurred without the involvement of the suspect.
The student was arrested for criminal solicitation of a threat to discharge a destructive device.
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