Police searched the 11-year-old suspect’s home and found the ‘suspicious device’ which was later determined not to be an explosive.
| Morgan Womack, Press Herald |
An 11-year-old boy has been charged with terrorizing after police said they found a “suspicious device” inside his home that had been brought onboard a Gray-New Gloucester school bus Thursday afternoon.
The sixth-grade student was arrested by Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office after the bus driver pulled over and evacuated about 15 middle and high school students from School Administrative District 15 in New Gloucester.
Investigators determined the device was not explosive, authorities announced Friday, but did not immediately answer questions about what the device was. The student, who was not named, was released to his parents’ custody.
Superintendent Craig King said the school district is doing its own investigation and could pursue suspension or expulsion if appropriate. The district has about a dozen policies that deal with threats to the school, he said.
“We have a student who has made a really unfortunate decision that disrupted the entire school and community,” he said. “It created a lot of fear and anxiety for people.”
To be guilty of terrorizing under Maine law, a person must communicate a threat of “violence dangerous to human life.” And the threat must be serious enough that either the potential victim or a third-party who hears the threat could have a “reasonable fear that the crime will be committed” – a Class D crime – or that “a building, place of assembly or facility of public transport” are evacuated – a Class C crime.
In February, state lawmakers were scrambling to fix Maine’s law after a U.S. Supreme Court decision made it difficult for prosecutors to support a terrorizing charge. In March, they succeeded, and the governor signed off on the emergency updates which took effect immediately.
The sheriff’s office and the Cumberland County District Attorney’s office did not immediately answer questions Friday about why they decided to charge the child.
Ricker Road and Bald Hill Road were temporarily shut down as multiple law enforcement agencies responded to Bus 13 on Thursday. The road was reopened when they learned there was no longer a potential threat, the sheriff’s office said in a statement Thursday.
King told the Press Herald on Thursday afternoon that the incident also delayed dismissal for some elementary school students. Some school officials responded to the scene as well, he said.
“I think people did a really good job at sorting out the situation in the moment,” King said.
On Friday, guidance counselors and teachers checked in with each student who was on the bus, King said. Counselors were also available for students and school staff spent time talking to parents about what happened, he said.
— Read the story on the Press Herald at this link.
