Keys Teen Accused Of Making School Bomb Threat
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MARATHON (CBSMiami) - A 15-year old Marathon High School student was arrested as school was starting Friday for allegedly taking part in a pair of bomb threats.
The girl, whose family lives in Long Key, is accused of assisting another person in calling in the threats to two schools on December 14th. CBS4 is not naming her because of her age.
The first threat call was made to Key West High School. The Monroe Sheriff's Office said that was a mistake, however, because the caller thought that was the school where the girl attended.
After that call was made, the girl sent the caller a map and contact information for her school after which the second threat call was made to Marathon High.
Both schools were evacuated for several hours, and school was finally canceled for the day at Key West High School as officers searched the campuses for explosive devices. None were located.
"Bomb threats are no joke and we take them very seriously," said Sheriff Rick Ramsay. "These threats took a lot of time, a lot of people and a lot of resources to investigate. They also caused a great amount of fear for parents and school staff."
Sheriff's investigators said the following day, the girl and a friend told a school resource officer that they knew who called in the threats. The girl reportedly told investigators several different versions about how she met him.
At one point she said she went to school with him in another county which turned out not to be true. She also deleted a number of text messages between her and the other suspect, lying to detectives about the extent of her contact with him. Detectives eventually discovered that she'd met him on-line and they'd never met in person.
Investigators are still working to determine his name and where he lives.
The teen has been charged with making a false report of a bomb, obstruction in a criminal investigation, tampering with evidence and use of a two way communications device to commit a felony crime.