A sixth-grade female student confessed last week to writing two bomb threats in the girls restroom at Oxford Middle School.
School officials identified the student, reported to be ‘angry at her home situation,? shortly after a third bomb threat was discovered at OMS on Thursday, Nov. 15 just before noon.
‘I’m very happy that it’s over and we found out (who’s responsible), but (I’m) also sad over the situation with the young lady and all that she’s dealing with,? said OMS Principal Ken Weaver. ‘It’s not a cut-and-dry, this is somebody trying to get out of school (type of situation). This is somebody screaming for help.?
According to Oxford Superintendent Dr. Bill Skilling and Weaver, the student confessed to writing bomb threats in the sixth-grade girls restroom on Nov. 8 and 15.
‘As soon as we got that third one, we had a good idea who it was,? Skilling said. ‘Ken (Weaver) got on top of this one right away. We pretty much identified this student as the one. It didn’t take long . . . Evidence kept piling up that this was the person.?
The student, whose name is not being released, was immediately suspended from school pending further investigation, psychological evaluation and an expulsion hearing. No criminal charges have been filed as of yet.
‘I’m not sure what will happen due to the age of the student,? Skilling said.
‘The police have everything, but they’re waiting for us to conclude (our investigation),? Weaver said. ‘This is a very complicated matter at this point. There is quite a bit of background and history and so forth on this, so it’s going to be a difficult one to proceed on (due to the emotional issues involved).?
Prior to conducting an expulsion hearing, Skilling said the student would undergo some ‘testing.?
‘We’re going to check to see what the emotional stability (of the student) is, whether there might be some issues that may have manifested itself to cause the student to do this sort of thing,? the superintendent said. ‘Obviously, this is not normal behavior.?
The Nov. 15 threat indicated a bomb would go off on Monday, Nov. 19 and ‘kill all you (expletive, expletive),? according to Weaver.
Although there’s no evidence linking the girl to the first threat written in the same sixth-grade girls restroom on Oct. 26, Weaver indicated he suspects her of writing that one as well.
‘I kind of have the suspicion that she did all of them,? he said. ‘She said she didn’t, but we’re dealing with someone that has some issues.?
School officials became suspicious she was the one responsible for writing the threats because she reported finding both the Nov. 8 and 15 messages.
‘When the same student reported a second one, right away that person became a suspect,? Skilling said.
A search of the student’s locker indicated a set of markers she owned was missing a purple one
The Nov. 15 threat was written in purple marker and a purple marker of the same brand as the suspect’s set was found discarded in the hallway about 10-15 feet away from the restroom containing the threat.
‘We also matched the handwriting (of the threats) with this student’s,? according to Skilling. ‘There were similarities in the style from both of them and we also looked at some of the student’s writing. There was a certain uniqueness to certain letters that she wrote that matched (the threats).?
The Nov. 8 bomb threat was written by a pink marker found in the restroom. However, that marker’s brand did not match the set from which the purple marker was missing, according to Weaver. However, the sixth-grader did confess to the writing that threat.
In addition to the threats, it appears this same girl may have also scratched messages on some lockers, although she didn’t admit it.
‘This student wrote kind of a vulgar message on some lockers (close to the restroom containing the threats) earlier that morning ? not a bomb threat, but a vulgar message with a lot of the same content in it,? Skilling said. ‘That’s also where the student’s locker is located.?
‘We had a lot of evidence and it just took working with her and talking with her to finally get her to admit she did it,? said Weaver, who noted they identified her as the responsible party ‘within about an hour? of finding the Nov.15 threat. ‘It wasn’t like she was denying it to be malicious. She’s just a young lady that has a lot of issues she’s dealing with.?
Unlike previous bomb threats at the middle school and high school, there was no need to search the building Nov. 15 with either staff or bomb-sniffing dogs because ‘we ascertained that it was her,? Weaver explained.
‘At that point we had identified that we had our person even without her saying anything,? he said. ‘We had enough to move forward.?
Two other bomb threats were found written at the high school on Nov. 2 and 6 for a total of five bomb threats against Oxford schools since Oct. 26.
Cameron Benjamin Blankenship, the 17-year-old high school student allegedly responsible for the Nov.2 threat was expelled from the school district Nov. 13 following a 6-0 vote by the board of education. He’s facing a four-year felony charge of making a false report or threat of a bomb.