Police charge 16-year-old Massachusetts teen with threatening to blow up school

A 16-year-old teen from Massachusetts has been charged with threatening to blow up a school this week.

According to police, yesterday morning, members of the Cumberland High School administrative team were alerted to a social media message received by a CHS student indicating threats against the high school. The student reported having received this unsolicited message from an unknown individual whom they had become digitally connected to several years ago.

Cumberland Police were immediately called in to assist and began investigating. CPD investigators were able to quickly identify a primary suspect who was a high school student in a northern Massachusetts community. This individual had no known ties to Cumberland, the high school, or the student who received the message.

CHS students were placed into a “restricted movement” status for a brief period out of an abundance of caution while the suspected student was located at their school. The suspect was located and immediately detained by their local high school resource officer.

The 16-year-old male student later responded to Cumberland Police headquarters with their parent and admitted to the hoax call. The juvenile was ultimately charged with one count of Bomb Threats and Similar False Reports and one count of Disorderly Conduct and will appear at a future date in Family Court. As the individual is a juvenile, the name of the teen was not released.