Reward offered for bomb hoaxer
November 6, 2012
Just one day after law enforcement and emergency responders scrambled to respond to a bomb threat, this one at the Bonners Ferry Middle School just after 1 p.m., another note threatening a bomb in a local school was found.

It's the third time they've had to run through the drill in three weeks, and not only emergency personnel and school staff are fed up, so are many in the community.

So much so that a $1,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the culprit, presumably a student.

"I think that will be a big help in convincing someone who knows something to come forward and do the right thing," said Incident Commander Bob Graham. "Surely someone knows besides the person doing this, and we need to put a stop to this. It's expensive and it's disruptive, not only to the emergency personnel, but to teachers, parents and students."

According to Graham, the investigation that has been ongoing since the first threat this year on October 23 is progressing, and the reward might be the incentive needed to close the case and prosecute the perpetrator.

Today's threat, Graham said, was scrawled in pencil on a bathroom wall, "bomb in school."

Just this morning he met with police, sheriff's deputies and school administrators to discuss what steps could be taken to end these hoaxes, and the school board will be asked to give the superintendent Dick Conley more leeway in both supervising students and making up for time lost due to the disruptions, possibly on weekends.

The students, Graham said, have been made aware of the severity of making false bomb threats; shortly after the first one a mandatory student assembly was held and they were told of state and federal statutes and penalties, along with the potential that the hoaxes could be prosecuted as an act of terrorism, upping the stakes.

Parents are being encouraged to discuss these threats, and how it's okay to come forward with information when it will end a practice that's costing everyone in the community, and end the fear that the act instills in students.

If you have information, do the right thing and call the sheriff's office, (208) 267-3151, extension 0, or the Bonners Ferry Police Department, (208) 267-2412. The community will be grateful.