Peruvian man accused of sending bomb threats to Pennsylvania schools
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A Peruvian man is accused of sending bomb threats to schools in Pennsylvania earlier this month.
The United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York said Eddie Manuel Nunez Santos is accused of making bomb threats to more than 150 school districts, synagogues, airports, hospitals, and a shopping mall between Sept. 15-21 in multiple states, including Pennsylvania.
Officials said the threats resulted in "massive disruptions to the targeted communities, including evacuations of thousands of schoolchildren, a lockdown of a hospital, and flight delays." He was arrested on Sept. 26 in Lima, Peru.
Court paperwork does not specifically name any schools that were targeted, but on Sept. 20, multiple schools in the Pittsburgh area received bomb threats, including the Avella, Burgettstown, Fort Cherry, California and Derry Area school districts.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, Nunez Santos sent threatening emails to school districts in Pennsylvania on Sept. 19 and Sept. 20 that referenced bombs blowing up "in a few hours."
"His actions wasted limited law enforcement resources, put first responders in unnecessary danger, and victimized children," FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Smith said in a release. "The FBI will not tolerate anyone who seeks to induce fear in our communities, and we will do whatever it takes to put the perpetrators of such actions behind bars, regardless of their location."
Similar threats were received in New York, Connecticut, Arizona and Alaska. Court paperwork does not include a motive for the threats.
He is also charged with attempting to make a 15-year-old girl in New York take and send him nude and sexually explicit photographs.
He is charged with transmitting threatening interstate communications, conveying false information and hoaxes, attempting to sexually exploit a child, attempting to coerce and entice a minor, and attempting to receive child pornography.
