Girl, 12, charged in bomb threats

NEW GARDEN » Criminal charges have been filed against a seventhgrade Kennett Middle School student who police say made two separate bomb threats at the school in the past several weeks. Because she is a juvenile, her name is not being released.

The first threat was made Tuesday, Sept. 30 at 2:34 p.m. New Garden police arrived at the school after a seventh-grade female student discovered a threatening word in the B-Wing girls’ bathroom. The word was observed on an interior wall of a bathroom stall. The student, age 12, immediately notified school officials who activated a “search only” procedure because the faculty was closed at the end of the school day.

The second threat occurred Friday, Oct. 10 at 2:34 p.m. New Garden police responded to the Middle School, located at 195 Sunny dell Road, after being called by school officials to investigate an--

other non-specific bomb threat. Upon arrival, police learned from a school official that the same seventhgrade student who reported the earlier bomb threat reported finding another threatening phrase.

The administration said the threatening phrase was found in the same location as the Sept. 30 incident. After the school administrator quizzed the student about the incident, she confessed to writing both the word and the phrase which indicated a bomb threat.

An administrative search was conducted and the writing instrument was recovered from the student.

The juvenile was referred to Chester County Juvenile Court. She is in the custody of her parents and is not authorized to be on the grounds of the Kennett Middle School.

“This will be up to juvenile court, but there may be restitution,” said Gerald Simpson, New Garden police chief. “There were police services used. This is very unfortunate, and hopefully she gets the counseling they need.”

Simpson said in wake of the bomb threats, efforts are under way to create a policy to deter, to coordinate response and to conduct a multi-disciplined threat assessment review.

Recently, at the request of Kennett school administrators, New Garden police facilitated a meeting between school officials and the FBI. These efforts will result in a multi-faceted approach, aimed at keeping children and faculty safe and minimizing disruption to the academic environment, Simpson said. These protocols will be released soon, he said.