Student Charged With Terroristic Threats In Lakewood Hoax Email

LAKEWOOD, NJ — A 17-year-old Lakewood High School student was arrested Tuesday after sending a hoax threat to shoot up a district school to the police department, sparking a lockdown, police said.

Detective Lt. Gregory Staffordsmith said the student will face the charges of creating false public alarm and terroristic threats in juvenile court at a date to be determined.

Staffordsmith said the police department received an email through the department's website that "made reference to 'blowing up' or 'shooting up' an unnamed school."

He said detectives were quickly able to determine the email had been sent from the Lakewood High School and they had the name of a potential suspect, he said.

The information was relayed to the Lakewood police officers who are assigned to the schools as well as the additional police who went to the high school, which was placed on lockdown, he said.

Officers and K9 units from the Ocean County Sheriff's Department ensured that the school was free of explosive devices, Staffordsmith said.

In the meantime, Detectives Mike Cavallo and Lynn Miller spoke with two 17-year-old students and learned the email was sent as a hoax. One of the students sent the email to the Lakewood website, but used the other student's information and access to do so, Lokerson said.

Both students were attending a Business Law class at the time the message was sent from a school computer, he said, but police found the student whose access was uesd used did not play a role in the hoax.

The student who sent the message was charged with creating a false public alarm and terroristic threats. He was released a short time later pending a juvenile hearing, Staffordsmith said.

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