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Juvenile arrested as bomb threat suspectBy Joel Stottrup Princeton police arrested a Princeton High School freshman student Monday on a charge of terroristic threats relating to the bomb threat made one week earlier at Princeton's South Elementary. The identity of the suspect was not released because she is a juvenile. Police Chief Dave Warneke reported Tuesday morning that the suspect, 15, was not formally charged. She was taken to the Mille Lacs County Jail after the arrest on Monday, Dec. 15, and released the same day. Information brought last Friday to Princeton High School liaison officer Kristi Kuyper led to the break in the case. Kuyper, a Princeton police officer, then interviewed the suspect Monday and arrested her. The suspect was apparently "fooling around" in making the calls, Warneke said. The suspect made at least two calls to South Elementary sometime after 11 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 6, at least one message ending up on a voice mail recording saying computer(s) would blow up. The threats were aimed at two staff members at South Elementary, according to Warneke. The recorded messages were discovered about mid morning on Monday, Dec. 8. Police were called at 10:20 a.m. that day and the students (K-2) and the staff evacuated the school and walked to the nearby high school performing arts center. Officers checked out the school, using a bomb-sniffing dog from Elk River. The all clear was given to reoccupy the school shortly after noon that day. Police Chief Warneke said the suspect also made other threatening-type calls but he had no information as to where. Mille Lacs County Attorney Jan Kolb said Tuesday the suspect was released from jail on the suspect's personal recognizance. Kolb anticipated making a decision that day on possible formal charges. A terroristic threat is a felony, according to Kolb. But deciding the penalty is not straightforward like in the case of adults, she said. The penalty for a juvenile is dependent upon a lot of factors, including prior history, Kolb said. Princeton Union-Eagle |