MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — Montgomery County Public Schools have received multiple threats within less than two weeks, and now police have identified a 12-year-old as the person responsible for four of them.
According to the school system, Richard Montgomery High School received threats via email on Oct. 13, 16, and 23. Oak View Elementary School was targeted with a separate email threat on Oct. 15.
"This reckless and dangerous behavior posed a direct threat to the safety and well-being of our schools and students," the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) said in a news release.
MCPD detectives, with the help of MCPS' IT staff, identified a 12-year-old as the person responsible for the four bomb threats, and once confronted, they admitted to it. But, in Maryland, children under the age of 13 can only be charged with offenses that constitute a crime of violence.
The police department said that "it is disheartening to accept" that the person responsible was well aware of the legal limitations surrounding their age. Meaning they knew they wouldn't be charged.
"In addition to the fear and chaos these threats caused, it is important to acknowledge the significant financial and operational burden each incident placed on our department," the police department said. "Dispatching officers and K-9 units to investigate these threats, especially when our resources are already stretched thin, diverted our personnel away from other pressing calls for service. This diversion of resources is unacceptable, and it jeopardizes the safety of our community."