Juvenile Charged After Emailing Bomb Threat To Duncanville Middle School

TUSCALOOSA, AL — A 12-year-old boy has been charged after authorities say he emailed a bomb threat to Duncanville Middle School, prompting deputies to search the campus and delaying the start of school by about an hour Wednesday.

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Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Josh Hastings told Patch that school staff notified authorities early Wednesday after an employee received an email from an unknown address threatening to blow up the school.

Hastings said TCSO deputies and K-9 units then responded to the campus and searched the school.

"We cleared the interior, the exterior, and they ended up delaying school by about an hour because of this," Hastings said.

Hastings said no threat was found and normal school activities resumed after authorities determined the campus was safe.

Investigators then turned their attention to identifying the person responsible for the email.

Hastings credited the sheriff's office's crime analysts with tracing information associated with the email address. By the end of Wednesday, investigators had identified a 12-year-old boy as the person suspected of sending the threat.

"We identified him, interviewed him, and he admitted to sending the threat via email," Hastings said.

He then said authorities obtained a pickup order Thursday for the juvenile, who was taken into custody and placed in the Tuscaloosa County Detention Center on one count of making a terroristic threat in the first degree.

The boy's identity was not released because of his age.

Hastings stressed that authorities investigate threats against schools regardless of whether the person responsible intended them as a joke.

"Anytime these threats come in, no matter how vague it is, we do not dismiss any of them," Hastings said. "All of these are taken extremely serious. We are going to investigate it to the fullest extent."

He also urged parents to talk with their children about the potential consequences of making threatening statements, whether in person or online.

"You may say something thinking it's a joke," Hastings said. "You may send an email thinking it's a joke. It's not a joke. Nobody finds it funny."

Hastings said investigating school threats requires significant law enforcement resources, particularly when investigators must trace electronic communications.

"The safety of these students and staff, that's a priority, and we'll always make it a priority," Hastings said.

He also warned that anonymity online should not be viewed as protection from investigators.

"You might think you're smart, you might think you're going to get away with it, but just know that with the technology that we have and the tools we have at our disposal, we're going to track you down," Hastings said. "And we're going to hold you accountable for these type of actions."

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