High Senior Arrested; School Bomb Threat Alleged

Sign On Diego reports that a senior at Ramona High School who told friends and others that he was going to blow up the school with homemade bombs made of C-4 explosive and hand grenades was arrested early Sunday.

Korey Flad, 19, faces charges that include threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction, threatening a school and making criminal threats, the department said.

Ramona sheriff’s Detective Mike McNeill said no explosives or grenades were found at Flad’s home.

It was all talk, McNeill said. As far as investigators can tell, he did not have any access to C-4 or grenades. “He was remorseful, cooperative, forthcoming, honest and compliant,” McNeill said.

Flad does not have any history of trouble with authorities, McNeill said, adding that he comes from “a regular middle-class home. There were no family problems.”

via Ramona High senior arrested; school threat alleged – SignOnSanDiego.com.

Backpack With 7 Pipe Bombs Leads To Evacuations

Santee California - A man who found seven pipe bombs in a backpack turned them in to the Sheriff’s Department substation Monday afternoon, prompting authorities to evacuate nearby businesses as they neutralized the explosive devices.

The man entered the station on Cuyamaca Street, near Buena Vista Avenue, around 2:15 p.m. and left the backpack in the lobby, Lt. Mike Munsey said. The man said he found the bag with the bombs the night before and one of them was leaking.

The sheriff’s bomb-arson unit inspected the backpack and neutralized each bomb individually, Munsey said.

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Explosive Device Goes Off In California Prison

An improvised explosive device went off inside a federal prison in California during a search Saturday, according to federal authorities.

No one was injured, the authorities told CNN.

The incident happened in the recreation area of the Victorville Federal Penitentiary. Bureau of Prisons spokesperson Traci Billingsley said the device was found by a staff member during a “routine search of inmate property”. She said it “detonated upon discovery.”

A bomb squad from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department and FBI bomb technicians were called to the prison to examine the device and make sure it didn’t pose any further danger. They remained inside the prison as of 9:30 p.m.

FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said an investigation was under way. She said the incident is not terrorism-related.

Billingsley said the prison was locked down at the time the device was found. She could not say what prompted the lockdown, or if there was any connection to the search. No inmates were in the area when the explosion occurred.

“The prison remains secure,” she said.

She said she could not recall a previous incident where an improvised explosive device was found inside a prison.

via Explosive goes off in California prison – CNN.com.

$50,000 Reward For Info On John Amos Power Plant Bomb Threats

Officials with the John Amos Power Plant are offering a $50,000 reward for information about the people responsible for a string of bomb threats against the Putnam County plant.

John Amos has received five threats within the last four weeks, with the most recent on Monday, said Joe Haynes, the plant’s community-relations manager.

The plant also received threats on Oct. 23, 24, 28 and 30, he said.

“The Oct. 23 one was phoned in to one of the contractors,” Haynes said. “The others were written on the walls of bathroom facilities in graffiti. Once somebody sees it and reports it we have to take it seriously.”

This is not the first time the Appalachian Power plant, which is an operating unit of American Electric Power, has received bomb threats.

Employees were evacuated twice last summer after threats were found written on the walls in the plant’s bathroom, Haynes said.

The Putnam County Sheriff’s Department, the State Police and the FBI are involved in the investigation.

A bomb threat is defined as a “threat of terrorist acts,” which is a felony offense under state law and is also a federal offense. Under state law, a person found guilty can be fined from $5,000 to $25,000 and sentenced to one to three years in jail.

State Police swept the plant’s parking lots on Thursday, Haynes said, and a number of drug-related citations were issued. State Police would not comment Tuesday and directed media inquiries to the plant.

Haynes said police theorize that individuals are making the threats to avoid submitting to random drug testing. He said all plant employees and contractors are randomly tested.

There are about 3,000 contractors working at the plant to install a scrubber within the plant’s power-generating unit. There are also about 400 Amos, AEP and independent workers on site.

The threats were made by people “on the inside,” Haynes said.

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