CUMBERLAND COUNTY — A Cumberland County student is in custody, accused of making 13 bomb threats to schools in the county on Tuesday.
Woodrow "Trey" Rowell III, 18, of 749 Maxine Street, was arrested Thursday afternoon at E.E. Smith High School by the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office.
Rowell is charged with 13 counts of making a false report concerning an explosive device.
He is accused of sending e-mail through a computer at the school's media center, warning that every high school in Cumberland County would blow up at 12:30 p.m. on March 6. The message was sent out at 11:30 a.m. the same day. The schools were evacuated.
"He should know better. I'm sure he does, but I don't know what would make a young man do something like this," says Cumberland County Sheriff Moose Butler.
Rowell was charged in June 1999 with making four false bomb threats at Pine Forest High School, where he was formerly a student. Those charges were later plea-bargained down to a misdemeanor.
Rowell is a co-op student, attending classes at E.E. Smith half the day, and interning at a local law office the other half. Ironically, it is the same office where Rich Glazier, chairman of the Cumberland County School Board, works.
Some students were shocked about the news.
"The Woodrow Rowell I know is not the type of person that would do that. He's like a teacher's pet," says student Tiffany Meekins.
The FBI is assisting in the investigation.
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