Two SEHS students may face charges in recent bomb threats

2 min read

EPD said a break in the case occurred when a 4J official located an anonymous social media post offering to send threats for a fee.

from the Eugene Police Department

Two South Eugene students may face charges after allegedly ordering bomb threats at their high school.

Calls to the Eugene Police Department on May 3, 10, 16, and 24 claimed the caller was armed with explosives inside the school on East 19th Avenue. In some of the calls, the person claimed to be armed with a firearm and threatened to harm people.

The threats greatly disrupted classes and testing and caused significant stress to students, families, and school staff. The hoax also diverted critical patrol and special team resources away from regular calls for service from the community.

EPD said a break in the case occurred when a 4J School District official located an anonymous social media post offering to send threats for a fee.

Investigators believe the local suspects used the internet to pay another person or entity to use threats of violence to shut down the school.

EPD requested help from the FBI. The FBI took lead on tracking down the person or persons making the calls while EPD took lead on locating the local suspects paying for the service.

With similar threats at other schools, EPD detectives have been actively coordinating with investigators across the country, sharing information that has been crucial in understanding how this operation worked.

The FBI and Eugene Police Department detectives said the two students and their families cooperated with the investigation.

On May 30, EPD detectives and FBI agents served a search warrant which led to the seizure of multiple electronic devices. EPD said information will be turned over to the Lane County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.

The names of the juveniles are not being released.

The identity of the person or persons who made the calls remains under investigation. Investigators are confident all threats were a hoax and there are no active threats to the school.

EPD thanked the FBI, 4J staff, and investigators at other schools across the country.