A Peruvian national is charged with sending more than 150 hoax bomb threats in September to schools, synagogues and other institutions across Pennsylvania and four other states.
Federal authorities allege that Eddie Manuel Nunez Santos, 33, sent the threats via email or online contact forms between Sept. 15 and 22, targeting about 20 schools in Pennsylvania as well as synagogues, airports and hospitals.
A criminal complaint filed in Manhattan federal court doesn’t name the schools that were targeted, but several school districts in Southwestern Pennsylvania received such threats during that time frame.
The threats triggered a sweep by K-9 teams at Derry Area School District and a search of buildings at Belle Vernon Area School District.
Other area districts that received threats included Mt. Lebanon, North Allegheny, Pine-Richland and South Park.
In a Sept. 22 security update, Shawn Brokos, community security director with the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, noted the organization had been notified by law enforcement authorities about bomb threats targeting Jewish organizations.
According to the complaint, many of the bomb threats issued by Nunez Santos included references to phone numbers or IP addresses.
The FBI determined those were used by minors, including a 17-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl in Pennsylvania.
Authorities said the girls had engaged in online communication with Nunez Santos, who represented himself as a 15-year-old named Lucas and asked the girls to send him nude photographs of themselves.
According to the complaint, when the girls refused his requests or cut off communications, Nunez Santos threatened to bomb their schools or kill them, and he then sent bomb threats to schools in their areas with directives for the targeted institutions to contact the girls.
Nunez Santos is charged with: transmitting threatening interstate communication; conveying false information and hoaxes; attempting to sexually exploit a child; attempting to coerce and entice a minor; and attempting to receive child pornography.
“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.
