Boy Charged With Taking Bomb Replica to School
A 15-year-old boy was charged Thursday with taking a replica of a bomb to Valencia High School, which forced the evacuation of nearly 2,600 students on Wednesday, the district attorney’s office said.
The boy, whose name was withheld because of his age, was scheduled to be arraigned today at Sylmar Juvenile Hall on the felony charge, district attorney’s spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said. The boy will be tried as a juvenile. There is no maximum or minimum sentence if he is convicted, Gibbons said.
A second boy, also 15, who allegedly dropped the device into a school locker room trash can, has not been charged, Gibbons said.
If bomb squad investigators determine that the device contained explosives, more charges could be filed, Sheriff’s Det. Edward Nordskog said. Chemical tests on remains of the device, which authorities exploded after the school was evacuated, could take more than a week, he added.
Both boys were suspended from school for five days and administrators will recommend that they be expelled, said Valencia High Principal Paul Priesz.
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