Methuen student arrested in connection to ‘copycat’ bomb threat at high school
A 15-year-old freshman was arrested at Methuen High School Thursday morning after police said he admitted to leaving a threatening note in a school bathroom. Methuen police said the boy has been charged with communication of a bomb threat.
Methuen Superintendent Judith Scannell told Boston.com the morning’s event was a “copycat’’ incident and had “nothing to do’’ with threats made to schools across the Commonwealth being investigated by the FBI.
Scannell said the note indicated a bomb would go off in the building. Once the handwritten note was found in the bathroom around 9 a.m., school officials acted “swiftly’’ to find the student, who admitted to writing the note with the intention of disrupting the school day, she said.
The police were called and the student was arrested by 10:15 a.m., she said.
“We do not tolerate this,’’ Scannell said.
The school building was never evacuated, she said, because “this was not a threatening situation.’’
In a letter to school families, Principal Richard Barden apologized for the disruption to the school environment.
“Please know that this type of behavior will not be tolerated and that our number one priority is the safety of our students and staff,’’ he wrote.
The threat that caused the evacuation of the high school on Wednesday remains under investigation.
Correction: Authorities initially identified the juvenille as a 14-year-old.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com