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Teenager arrested, charged in bomb threats on Washington, DC schools

Washington, D.C. skyline Capitol Hill
Posted at 1:31 PM, Feb 10, 2022
and last updated 2022-02-10 14:32:37-05

Police in Washington, D.C. arrested a 16-year-old male on Thursday and charged him for calling in bomb threats to at least seven schools in the city with a predominantly Black student body, Reuters reported. Police say the teen called in threats the day before the arrest was made.

The bomb threats forced evacuations of hundreds of students, along with school staff, from school buildings in various parts of the District.

Authorities have not said if race was a factor in the selection of schools that were targets for the threats. One of the schools involved was Dunbar High School, which received a bomb threat on Tuesday. Vice President Kamala Harris' husband Douglas Emhoff was speaking at an event at the school when it was evacuated. Police have said that Tuesday's threat at that high school didn't appear to have been targeting Emhoff, according to multiple reports.

D.C. police sent a tweet on Thursday that said, "A 16-year old juvenile male, of Southeast, D.C., has been arrested and charged with Terroristic Threats in connection to multiple bomb threats yesterday. MPD continues to investigate these incidents with our federal partners."

City police saidthey have been working with the FBI Washington Field office along with the Washington office for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in the investigation.

Police have not released other details on the identity of the 16-year-old.