Nova Scotia teen accused of making threats against Kemptville high school faces additional charges

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The Nova Scotia teen accused of making threats that shuttered an eastern Ontario high school for several days is also accused of being behind dozens of threats to schools, airports and other institutions in New York state.

In late October, the OPP announced a 14-year-old boy from Bridgewater, N.S., faced a host of charges over multiple threats of violence he allegedly made against St. Michael Catholic High School between Sept. 12 and Oct. 17. His charges include threats to cause death or bodily harm, indecent communications, mischief and destroying data on a computer.

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The teen is also believed to be behind dozens of hoax threats to schools, restaurants, government organizations, local police departments, airports, universities and hotels, as well as a national suicide hotline, along with private citizens in at least 12 states in the U.S., as well as multiple locations throughout Canada, said Sarah Ruane, a spokesperson with the Federal Bureau of Investigations in Albany, N.Y.

“We can confirm a joint investigation was launched in September regarding a series of threatening calls made to the Bethlehem High School in Bethlehem, NY,” she said via email. That joint investigation led to “multiple search warrants.”

The teen’s actions where characterized as “a reign of chaos” by FBI Special Agent in Charge Craig Tremaroli in an Oct. 28 news conference, as reported by the Times-Union newspaper in Albany.

The newspaper’s coverage includes details of a Sept. 11 hoax phone call that threw Bethlehem High School into chaos, with students and parents reporting a police officer ran across the field hockey field, a long gun strapped to his chest, shouting about an active shooter and telling them to run.

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Additionally, the Times-Union reported, town police received a total of six phone threats that alleged to target violence generally to the schools, Bethlehem High School and the football team between Sept. 10 and Sept. 12. The calls started again in October, with five more calls that the boy is accused of making, plus one bomb threat for which an Albany boy has been arrested.

By then, police had determined the calls were hoaxes and the school did not have more lockdowns, but attendance at the high school reportedly “plummeted” in the wake of the initial threats.

Ruane said the youth is not facing charges in the U.S., but rather was arrested and charged by OPP for his actions in Canada, with investigative assistance from New York local police and the FBI.

The youth’s identity is protected by the Youth Criminal Justice Act. He remains in custody in a Nova Scotia youth jail, and recently appeared in Brockville court to schedule a bail hearing for later in November.

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