Teen held in bomb threat to Wayne County middle school as district grapples with 2 other threatening incidents

A teenager was in custody Tuesday in connection with a threat received last week by two Goldsboro public schools, which also received another threat today, the third such incident in five days.

Posted 4:48 p.m. Nov 13, 2018 — Updated 9:13 p.m. Nov 13, 2018

GOLDSBORO, N.C. — A teenager was in custody Tuesday in connection with a threatening e-mail message received last week by Greenwood Middle School, as two other Wayne County schools found themselves on the receiving end of threats, the third such incident at Wayne public schools in less than five days.

Authorities have not publicly identified the 15-year-old suspect who is accused in last week's incident because of their age. But Wayne County authorities told WRAL News that the teen is in custody, and they are preparing to file formal charges against the juvenile.

The suspect was being held even as Goldsboro High School and the adjacent Wayne School of Engineering were evacuated on Tuesday -- the second time in less than a week that those campuses have received threats.

According to Wayne County Public Schools, students from both Goldsboro High School, located at 901 Beech Street, and Wayne School of Engineering were evacuated before 11:30 a.m. Tuesday. The lockdown was lifted at about 1 p.m.

"We are disappointed to share that GHS has received another threatening message," officials posted on Twitter. "Students at both schools have been evacuated while law enforcement investigate."

A school spokesman told WRAL News that because of the cold weather officials decided to move the students to an indoor location while officials investigated the incident.

The incidents occurred:

Wednesday, Nov. 7: The schools received a bomb threat via e-mail at 9:11 a.m. that prompted an evacuation at Greenwood Middle School. The teen is in custody with that incident. Investigators searched the school but did not find any explosive devices. The teen was taken into custody and transported to the New Hanover County Juvenile Detention Center, where a custody review hearing was expected to be held within the next five days, according to Goldsboro police.
Friday, Nov. 9: The schools received another e-mail threat, which resulted in another evacuation.
Tuesday, Nov. 13: The schools received a threat around 11:30 a.m. Goldsboro High School students were relocated to Wayne Academy, while students from Wayne School of Engineering were relocated to Herman Park Center. Parents were allowed to pick up their students early if they had identification.

Officials have not revealed the nature of the threat or disclosed what was in the e-mails.

"Reminder -- threats are not a joke," Wayne Schools tweeted. "Anyone caught making threats against a school will be charged with a felony and could have to pay for the search."

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