Teen arrested in school threat

Kim Smith

Thursday, May 2, 2002 | 10:01 a.m.

Nye County sheriff's deputies arrested a 14-year-old Pahrump Valley High School student Wednesday in an alleged threat to blow up the school -- two days after a fellow student was arrested after a bus was hijacked as part of a similar plan.

"(Wednesday's) incident had nothing to do with Monday's, although it may have been instigated by it," Nye County Sheriff's Office Lt. Bill Becht said.

Becht said the school principal called the sheriff's office Wednesday morning after hearing from numerous students who said a freshman was threatening to blow the school up in two weeks.

After the principal verified the boy had made such statements, the teen was taken into custody about 10:30 a.m. at the school, Becht said.

"He wanted to be somebody. He was going to impress his friends, he talked smack and he ended up in jail because of it," Becht said. "At this time it doesn't look like he did anything but talk."

Nye County District Attorney Robert Beckett said the boy will make his initial court appearance within the next few days, at which time a criminal complaint will be filed against the youth charging him with threatening to cause bodily harm or death to a student or school employee.

Prosecutors have not yet determined whether to ask a judge to certify either the 14-year-old or the 15-year-old from Monday's incident as adults, Beckett said.

The sheriff's office alleges the older boy hijacked a bus in Pahrump before school Monday morning, using a Samurai sword to take control of the bus from its driver. The boy was apprehended after a chase into California. A written plan to blow up the school and school schematics were found on him, the sheriff's office said.

The boy told police he found the sword lying behind the school, Becht said. It was an ornamental sword with a shiny metal blade.

Beckett said that boy made his initial court appearance in Independence, Calif., Wednesday. An extradition hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.

Should the boy agree to waive extradition, a Nye County deputy will drive him back immediately, Beckett said.

An investigation into Monday's incident is ongoing, Beckett said.