OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. (WJRT) - An investigation into several threats to Oakland County schools this month stretched across the Atlantic Ocean, where a teen from the United Kingdom was arrested on April 13.
Police say the 16-year-old suspect claimed he was the Nov. 30 Oxford High School shooting suspect when he called in threats of violence to Cranbrook Academy in Bloomfield Hills, Brandon High School, Lake Orion High School and Oxford High School on April 8.
The 16-year-old suspect is accused of phoning in threats to 37 other businesses around the United States, not including the four schools in Oakland County.
“Let this serve as a message to anyone who would threaten our schools or any other institution in Oakland County. We will come for you,” said Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard.
He said 14 police agencies in the United States and United Kingdom collaborated on the investigation over the course of a week earlier this month.
In the allegedly threatening phone call to Oxford High School, investigators say the suspect claimed he was depressed and planned to "shoot up the school" and "finish" the job he started with the deadly Nov. 30 shooting.
Police say the suspect called the school again and faked an Indian accent while claiming he was going to shoot up the school. He claimed to be inside the school and staff members heard kids giggling in the background.
The suspect hung up with someone at the school said authorities had been contacted.
The school resource deputy from the sheriff's office picked up when the suspect allegedly called Oxford High School a third time. He allegedly threatened to come and slap the deputy if anyone hung up on him.
In the call to Brandon High School, the suspect allegedly claimed there was a black pickup truck in the parking lot with an AR-15 rifle inside and he planned to use it in the school.
Investigators called the phone number used for that call and the suspect allegedly claimed again that he was the Oxford High School shooting suspect.
Police say the same phone number was used in the alleged threats toward Brandon and Lake Orion high schools. Police determined all of the threats to Oakland County schools were not credible, but they increased patrols afterward as a precaution.
Investigators initially believed the threatening phone calls originated in New York or Florida based on the area code. But they later determined the calls actually came from overseas.
Police in the United Kingdom arrested the teenage suspect and released him to his parents' custody while the investigation continues. The sheriff's office hasn't said whether he will come to the U.S. and face charges.
