Teen Faces 6 Terrorizing Charges After Barrage of Bomb Threats in Opelousas, Louisiana

OPELOUSAS, La. (KPEL News) - An Opelousas teen is in deep trouble after making calling in several bomb threats around St. Landry Parish.

On Tuesday evening, the 15-year-old female allegedly called in a bomb threat to McAlister's Deli in Opelousas, which Opelousas Police began investigating that night. Their investigation honed in on the minor, who was taken in and eventually revealed to have been responsible for several calls to area schools Wednesday morning.

That morning, Northwest High School students and faculty were forced to evacuate after a bomb threat was called into their school. The St. Landry Sheriff's Office confirmed that they were on the scene with bomb-sniffing dogs.

However, shortly before 1 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, SLPSO confirmed that four other schools had also faced threats - Opelousas High School, St. Landry Accelerated Transitional School (SLATS), Center for Academic Programs (CAPS), and the Washington Vocational Education Center.

The teen was a student at one of the schools. She is currently being held by law enforcement and will face expulsion from the St. Landry Parish school system. She faces three charges of Terrorizing from the Opelousas Police Department (McAlister's, Opelousas High, and CAPS) and three charges of Terrorizing from the St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Office (Northwest High, SLATS, and Washington Vocational).

According to LA RS 14:40.1, "Terrorizing is the intentional communication of information that the commission of a crime of violence is imminent or in progress or that a circumstance dangerous to human life exists or is about to exist, with the intent of causing members of the general public to be in sustained fear for their safety; or causing evacuation of a building, a public structure, or a facility of transportation; or causing other serious disruption to the general public."

Those found guilty of Terrorizing face a prison sentence of up to 15 years and/or fines up to $15,000.

The Opelousas Police Department said in a statement that it "takes offenses such as these very seriously, as those who commit these crimes severely disrupt the normal operations of local business and the educational process of local schools. What may seem like a simple prank could result in severe consequences for those who engage in such reckless behavior."