The March 27 discovery of several suspicious items—three cylindrical packages at Henley Middle School and one at Brownsville Elementary, as well as a written threat taped to the front entrance at Henley—prompted the arrest of two Henley Middle School students last week. Both are under age 14 and are facing felony charges of construction and placement of hoax explosive devices.
 Students were diverted from Henley Middle and Brownsville Elementary schools to Western Albemarle High School after suspicious objects and threatening messages were found. |
At a press conference, Albemarle Superintendent Pamela Moran assured parents and community members that school staff were quick to implement safety plans and work with police. She commended her staff’s vigilance: The suspicious items were discovered at 7am, and “no buses even arrived at Brownsville or Henley,” Moran said.
The investigation brought out approximately 65 police officers, two Virginia bomb teams, two remote-controlled robots and 17 explosive-retention canines, according to Albemarle Police Lieutenant John Teixeira.
 County cops released this photo of a faux bomb planted on a pole just outside Brownsville Elementary. |
Although the devices did not turn out to be functional, Teixeira says the extensive involvement of police in this investigation was appropriate. “When those children were evacuated from those schools and those officers put their lives on the line, nobody knew these were hoax devices,” he says. “Each situation depends on the totality of the circumstances, and I’m glad we did what we did. I’m glad everyone was O.K.”
Trouble started brewing March 20, when Henley students were evacuated to nearby Brownsville Elementary because of a bomb threat. Western Albemarle High School received a handwritten threat the next day.
One of the juveniles arrested last week is also being charged in relation to the March 20 threat at Henley.
A lawyer for one of the teens, Richard A. Deloria, issued a letter of apology from his client March 31, according to The Daily Progress.
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