High School Bomb Threat Suspect Faces Many Charges

The 16-year-old arrested Friday afternoon in connection with the bomb threat that shut down two schools and caused traffic re-routing on McClellan Road, now faces several criminal and state Education Code charges, a Sheriff's Office spokesman said Sunday.

Lt. Rick Sung, the assistant division commander of the Santa Clara County Sheriff Office's West Valley Patrol, said the student, who attends Monta Vista High School in Cupertino, faces charges related to the following offenses:

• Bomb threat against a school
• Criminal threat against a teacher
• Vandalism
• Terrorist threat against a school official (Education Code)
• Disruption to school activities (Education Code)

Graffiti was discovered Thursday morning on at least three area schools with threats against a teacher at Monta Vista High School.

The threat closed Monta Vista and neighboring Lincoln Elementary School on Thursday so the bomb squad could scour the high school’s campus. No evidence of suspicious materials was uncovered in the search.

The initial report of graffiti came from Lynbrook High School, almost four miles from Monta Vista, and located in San Jose. San Jose Police alerted the Sheriff's Department, citing the threat. Additional evidence of graffiti at Kennedy Middle School and Cupertino High School were reported later.

The motive is still unknown, Sung said. The unidentified student was booked into Juvenile Hall in San Jose late Friday afternoon.

Although there was never a bomb found, the public resources devoted to the bomb threat were considerable, Sung said.

• More than 40 sheriff's deputies were deployed at the school campuses from 6:40 a.m. Thursday until were cleared of threat, at about 11:30 or noon. McClellan Road, which was closed, required traffic management. 
• At least a half-dozen sheriffs deputies investigated the event "almost around the clock"
• Three bomb-sniffing handlers and four dogs were used from the Sheriff's Office, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and Stanford University's Department of Public Safety.

"We had at least a half-dozen deputies who worked continuously in the time since the reported incidents up to the arrest of the juvenile," Sung said. Deputies were following up on leads and sifting through information in "the process of validating or eliminating the possibilities," he added.  "It took us almost a couple of days."

Related Story:

MV Bomb Threat Suspect Arrested