UPDATE: The St. Landry Parish School System has issued a statement about the bomb threats today; they say someone already has been arrested for the threats.
Here's the statement:
Today, five of our St. Landry Parish schools were the targeted recipients of bomb threats. We would like to sincerely thank the Opelousas Police Department, the St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Department, and all other agencies that responded so quickly to insure the safety of our students and employees. We are proud of and thankful to the school administrators of the affected schools for maintaining order and following policies created to ensure the safety of all who occupy those campuses. We would also like to express our gratitude and appreciation to our parents for their patience and understanding.
We are pleased to inform you that an arrest has been made in connection with this incident thanks to the investigative work of our law enforcement agencies.
As with all matters of student safety, we have taken this very seriously and have acted accordingly, utilizing both school system disciplinary recourse and the local law enforcement agencies for investigation. We will advocate alongside the District Attorney’s Office to ensure that crimes perpetuated against our schools be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
Providing a safe and secure learning environment is a priority for the St. Landry Parish School District. By working as a school community, we can create and maintain the level of safety that we want for all.
The Opelousas Police Department also released the following statement regarding the arrests made in the bomb threats:
Opelousas Police have made an arrest in connection to three incidents where bombs threats were called into McAlister’s restaurant on January 24 and two schools on January 2 in Opelousas.
The offender was a determined to be a 15-year-old minor. Investigators begin the investigation of the threat called into McAlister’s just after 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday evening.
The investigation led officers to determine that the same offender was responsible for making all of the calls as well as several calls made to other schools in St. Landry Parish.
The minor will be charged with three counts of Terrorizing for the threats being investigated by the Opelousas Police Department.
According to LA RS 14:40.1, "Terrorizing is the intentional communication of information that the commission of a crime of violence is imminent or in progress or that a circumstance dangerous to human life exists or is about to exist, with the intent of causing members of the general public to be in sustained fear for their safety; or causing evacuation of a building, a public structure, or a facility of transportation; or causing other serious disruption to the general public."
Earlier today, we reported that St. Landry law enforcement was responding to Northwest High, Opelousas High, SLATS, CAPS and Washington Trade School for bomb threats.
Authorities are urging parents to talk to their children about the repercussions of calling in false complaints.
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