By Dean Vaglia
Leader Staff Writer
United Kingdom authorities arrested the 16-year-old boy behind three threatening phone calls to Oxford High School, according to an Oakland County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) statement.
The 16-year-old threatened to commit a shooting in two calls and threatened to slap the detective that answered the third call on Fridady, April 8. The teen made threatening calls to other Michigan schools including Brandon High School, Lake Orion High Schools and Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills. Police in the U.K. arrested the suspect on Wednesday, April 13.
The suspect is linked to over 40 threatening calls targeting schools and businesses in the United States.
“As I said at the time, we were going to be aggressive to hold perpetrators accountable,”
Michael Bouchard, Oakland County sheriff, said. “In conjunction with our law enforcement partners and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and police officials from the United Kingdom, that has in fact occurred and a suspect has been arrested. Let this serve as a message to anyone who would threaten our schools or any other institution in Oakland County. We will come for you.”
Over 15 agencies in the U.S. took part in the investigation into the calls including the Department of Homeland Security.
The April 8 calls to OHS were made using Florida and New York phone numbers. The first call was made with a British accent and 16-year-old claimed to be the Nov. 30 shooter, while the second call was made with a fake Indian accent and claimed to be in the school with a gun. Extra patrols were assigned to OHS following the calls.