Tip leads police to arrest in school threat

Once Boerne police received a tip about a possible suspect in the Jan. 31 Champion High School bomb threat, Chief Steve Perez intentionally shut down the open lines of communication through social media.

“Our investigation into the incident at Champion High School started immediately,” Perez said at a Feb. 2 press conference at the Boerne police station. “Our detectives started looking into how the call was received, and later received information about a possible suspect.

“Due to the information we had, I elected to minimize the communication to ensure our suspect would not be alerted in any way,” the chief said.

It was about 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 31, Perez said, that police got the call that altered a large portion of the day for thousands of Boerne residents.

“Boerne Police received a phone call through our non-emergency line of a person wanting to report a bomb threat to Boerne Champion High School,” Perez said. “The unknown caller said there were multiple bombs in and around the school and that he was also armed with an AR-15, ready to shoot anybody coming into the school.”

Response, he said, was immediate. Champion High School’s School Resource Officer Stephen Moring, already inside the school, was joined by patrol officers dispatched to the school. Champion immediately went into its lockdown procedures, Perez said.

“They began a preliminary search of the school, looking for signs of explosives and also an active attacker,” he said.

Due to the nature of the threat, multiple agencies responded, including Boerne Police Department, Boerne Fire Department, Kendall County EMS, Kendall County Sheriff’s Office, FBI-San Antonio, Texas DPS, Texas Rangers, the San Antonio Police Department bomb squad, Homeland Security, ATF, and police chiefs from Universal City and Hollywood Park.

Shortly after learning of the threat at Champion, Perez mentioned “internal communication” about this incident being a possible distraction for a separate threat, with somebody with plans to attack Boerne High School.

“We divided our emergency personnel which included police, fire and EMS, and sent them to Boerne High School, which also went into lockdown procedures,” Perez said.

Officers deployed seven canines on the scene to assist with searching for explosive devices within the school.

“There were no guns, there were no explosives found at either school,” he said. “Our investigation of the Boerne High School threat was determined to be false, so that school was cleared and allowed to resume normal operations.”

One Champion student who tried to leave the school during lockdown was briefly detained. “After it was determined he was not involved in the incident, he was released back to school administrators and then eventually to his parents,” Perez said.

Just after 7 p.m. on Feb. 1, Boerne police detectives served a search warrant at a juvenile’s home. During the investigation, they contacted the 16-year-old male who later confessed to calling in the Champion bomb threat/swatting incident.

About 3:30 p.m. Feb. 2 the juvenile was arrested and charged with three felonies: false alarm or report, terroristic threats and terrorism. The teen is a former Boerne ISD student but has not been in the district for about a year, the chief added.

“This is still an active and ongoing investigation,” Perez said. “But I do feel it is important for our students, staff and parents that were directly affected by this hoax, to know that the person responsible for this frightful day has been apprehended.”

Joining Perez at the Feb. 2 press conference was Boerne ISD Superintendent Dr. Kristin Craft.

Craft issued a statement on behalf of the school district after the press conference.

“Our highest priority is the safety, security, and well-being of our students and staff, and we take any and all threats very seriously,” Craft said.

“ This evening, the Boerne Police Department announced they have arrested the individual who made the false threat at Champion. The individual is not a current Boerne ISD student, and we may not disclose any information about the individual to the public,” Craft said.

“At this time, we do not know about the involvement of any other individuals,” Craft said. “This is a current law enforcement matter, and we are fully cooperating with the Boerne Police Department and federal authorities. We will continue to work with the authorities if needed.

“We are grateful for the actions of local police officers, detectives, and state authorities who identified this individual,” the superintendent said.

“No credible threat was substantiated at any of our campuses. We understand this kind of event can be unsettling, and our counselors remain available to support our students and staff,” she said.