$300,000 bond for CSU bomb threat

A Columbus judge has raise a previous bond set for a Columbus State University student accused of threatening to bomb the school.

Muscogee County Superior Court Judge Doug Pullen raised the initial $46,000 bond to $331,000, according to a Ledger-Enquirer newspaper report. Pullen, referring to the raised amount, said:

"I totally disagree with the bond amounts. This is more than reasonable considering what he's accused of doing."

Click here for previous GPB News coverage of this incident, and here for more reports of similar threats at Georgia educational institutions.

Thomasville: youth confesses to bomb threat

A teen in Thomasville confessed early Tuesday afternoon to calling in a bomb threat at Thomas County Central High School (TCCHS).

The 15-year-old male, a former TCCHS student, who attended an alternative school, confessed during questioning by Thomas County Sheriff’s Office investigators.

The bomb threat was called in at 6:45 p.m. Monday. The caller left the threat on a telephone answering machine. The message said a bomb planted in the school would blow up the building. The caller also cursed school officials.

School telephone records were subpoenaed, and a trace led to a cell phone. The source of the call had been determined within a couple of hours of discovery of the message.

The teen is charged with terrorist threats and acts.

“More charges probably will be pending after a meeting with the district attorney’s office,” said Capt. John Richards, sheriff’s office chief of operations.

“Children need to realize that with today’s technology, they can’t get away with bomb threats anymore.”

Click here for more GPB coverage of similar threats.

(The Associated Press)

CSU: Man arrested for bomb threats, guns

CSU police. (CSU)

Columbus State University Police arrested a Phenix City man Monday morning, just after they believe he made his fifth bomb threat against the institution.

Lawrence E. Price, 45, of 67 McMurrian Drive, was charged with five counts of making terrorist threats, and one count each of carrying a weapon to school, possession of a firearm in the commission of a crime and obstruction of a peace officer, according to a CSU statement.

University Police identified a location where the calls had originated and during an undercover operation Monday morning, and identified the suspect after a call indicating the presence of a bomb at CSU was made to the Columbus Police Department and to the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. Police closed in and arrested Price in a university parking lot.

Inside Price’s 1997 pickup truck, officials found two rifles, a shotgun, a small handgun, a compound bow, an axe, an antique saw, three bottles of alcohol and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. A Bomb Squad dog checked Price and his truck thoroughly and found no indication of explosives. University Police alerted the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Phenix City Police.

The incident follows two bomb threats against the university in the last two weeks. Officials evacuated the faculty building for several hours after the second call.

The Columbus Police Department, the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office, the county’s bomb squad, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took part in the investigation.

Price was enrolled in the biology program, the statement said.

Click here for related GPB coverage, and here for coverage of CSU affairs.

Student faces 17 counts for bomb threat

Authorities in northeast Georgia have charged a student with 17 counts in connection with a bomb threat made earlier this month. On October 3rd, state schools superintendent Kathy Cox had just walked through the front doors of Jackson County Comprehensive High School in Jefferson, when the school was ordered evacuated by district officials. In all, 17 schools were cleared in Jackson, Jefferson, and Commerce school districts. Prosecutors have not decided whether they will try to prosecute the 15-year-old in Jackson’s Superior Court, or Juvenile Court.