Man From Peru Charged Over 150 Fake Bomb Calls to US Schools, Institutions

A sign of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington on March 28, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

A Peruvian national was charged with making fake bomb threats in American schools and other institutions, which led to massive community-wide disruptions.

Eddie Manuel Nunez Santos, aka Lucas, allegedly made the threats to more than 150 school districts, synagogues, airports, hospitals, and a shopping mall over a period of just a week between Sept. 15 and Sept. 21, 2023, according to a Thursday press release by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). “The threats spanned multiple states, including New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Arizona, and Alaska, and resulted in massive disruptions to the targeted communities, including evacuations of thousands of schoolchildren, a lockdown of a hospital, and flight delays.”

Mr. Nunez is alleged to have engaged in making fake bomb calls after several minors refused to send him sexually explicit material. He is charged with trying to coerce a 15-year-old girl to send him nude and sexually explicit photos. The suspect was arrested on Sept. 26 by Peruvian authorities in Lima.

FBI began receiving reports of bomb threats beginning Sept. 15. By examining email, phone, and IP data, the agency determined that 33-year-old Mr. Nunez was behind these fake threats. A Sept. 19 threat led to over 1,100 school kids in around 20 schools in Pennsylvania to be evacuated.

A Sept. 20 message sent by the accused to around 24 school districts in Pennsylvania stated: “I placed multiple bombs in all of the schools from your School Districts. The bombs will blow up in a few hours. I’ll gladly smile when your families are crying because of your deaths.”

Mr. Nunez’s threats also referenced specific phone numbers or IP address, directing the institution to contact these numbers or IP addresses. The agency determined that these were used by minor females, each of whom had engaged in online communication with the accused.

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During the communications, Mr. Nunez presented himself as a 15-year-old named “Lucas” and repeatedly asked two girls to send him nude photos. When they refused, he threatened to send bomb threats to schools in their areas.

“As alleged, the defendant’s relentless campaign of false bomb threats caused an immediate mobilization by federal and state authorities, diverting critical law enforcement and public safety resources, and caused fear in hundreds of communities across this country,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.

“The charges unsealed today show that those who engage in such conduct, wreaking havoc on our communities, will not find safe haven merely because they do it from outside our borders. Working together with our law enforcement partners, we will find you, and we will prosecute you.”

Mr. Nunez is facing multiple charges—transmitting threatening interstate communications and conveying false information and hoaxes, each of which comes with five years in prison maximum; attempting to coerce and entice a minor, which comes with a maximum sentence of life in prison; attempting to receive child pornography which carries a maximum 20-year prison term; and attempting to sexually exploit a child, which comes with 15-30 years in prison.

School Bomb Threats, Fake Shooter Threat

Multiple institutions, especially schools, have received fake bomb threats over the years.

In February this year, San Marcos Elementary School in California got a phone call about a bomb, which led to students and staff being evacuated. Police arrived at the scene with sniffer dogs. No bombs were found.

First responders include Santa Ana SWAT teams and Orange County Fire Authority HAZMAT crews secure Santa Ana High School as parents and family members wait for students on lockdown after bomb and weapon threats circulated at the school in Santa Ana, Calif., on March 10, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

In November last year, Santa Monica High School in California received a bomb threat that prompted a lockdown. The police searched the place but came up empty-handed.

In June 2022, an Oklahoma man was arrested for allegedly making bomb threats to five Los Angeles schools in February and April. One of the threats said: “There is a bomb at your school and we will shoot the kids when they get out of the school. That is what you get for not accepting me in ‘86.”

According to the U.S. Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), bomb threats “should always be taken seriously” since “how quickly and safely you react to a bomb threat could save lives.”

It advises people who receive such threats to notify authorities immediately. In case the threat is made by phone, CISA asks to keep the caller on the line as long as possible, record the call, and write down as much information as possible.

In addition to bomb threats, some schools receive false shooter threats as well, which can turn out to be a more complicated issue.

“For decades, those of us in the school safety world have dealt with false bomb threats,” Mo Canady, executive director for the non-profit organization National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO) told NPR last year.

“If we get a call that someone is actively shooting, injuring, killing people, that’s a whole different matter. That requires really an all-out response.”

Mr. Canady pointed out that fake shooter calls can lead to confusion at the scene. He recounted an incident in Ohio where a father was arrested after arriving at his child’s school with a gun. The father came with the gun after hearing there may be an active shooter in the location.