The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Local News

January 13, 2012

Beckley police arrest alleged Walmart bomb threat caller

By Kara Van Pelt Register-Herald Reporter

Beckley Police have arrested the individual they say is responsible for a bomb threat and subsequent evacuation of Beckley Walmart on North Eisenhower Drive Tuesday afternoon.

Police said they were able to discover the suspect’s identity after tracing the phone call back to a Wyoming County school’s pay phone.

An investigation, assisted by school officials, revealed a 14-year-old boy as the responsible party, Capt. Jeff Shumate reported.

The juvenile has been charged with making a terrorist act, Shumate added.

Because of his age, his name will not be released.

Shumate explained the boy called Walmart around 3 p.m. Tuesday and said he had been in the store the day before and had left a bomb that would explode within 5 minutes.

Beckley police and fire departments responded as Walmart employees were evacuating the store and parking lot.

The West Virginia State Police brought their bomb squad dog to scour the property, which turned up negative for any explosives.

“He (the juvenile) considered this a prank,” Shumate said disapprovingly.

Multiple factors are involved in determining the punishment associated with the charge, Shumate explained, such as lost revenue of the business and the resources used by emergency responders such as police and firefighters, to handle the incident.

“The issue with this is the resources used to respond to those calls, the loss of revenue to the business, and you never know when something like that occurs what people’s actions are going to be and what might come from that,” Shumate said.

“Responding to a event such as a phony bomb threat limits the ability to police the community, or if some other emergency would occur, it could delay the response to that incident which exposes the community to an increased chance of harm.”

Thankfully, no injuries resulted from the prank or evacuation, the captain added.

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