Teen Charged with Making Threats to Dubuque Hempstead
Exactly one month after reportedly making a pair of threats against Dubuque Hempstead High School, a student has been charged with threats of terrorism.
An unnamed 16-year-old Hempstead student was charged with the felony count, which carries a punishment of up to five years in prison and a fine up to $7,500, per KWWL and a number of other news outlets. Thankfully, the threats themselves turned out to be false, but police say the incident caused "undue stress" on people and resources within Dubuque Hempstead High School as well as the Dubuque Police Department and the community as a whole.
On February 6th, 2023, Dubuque Police received a call at 11:17am of "a vague threat" of an explosive device at Dubuque Hempstead High School. The police conducted a thorough search and didn't discover anything. The Dubuque Police Department initially released this statement:
The school resource officers and investigators from the criminal investigations division immediately implemented their threat assessment protocols with school district staff.
Students were relocated from within the school away from the parking lot area and the police department is currently working with school district officials in clearing the parking lot and exterior of the school. No dangerous devices have been located.
By 1:25pm that day, the Dubuque Police and Fire Departments had established a safety perimeter around the school and 2:20pm dismissal was continued as schedule. The investigation was wrapped by 4:00pm with no suspicious or dangerous devices found.
In lieu of the charges revealed to the unnamed student, the Dubuque Police stated that they take any and all threats of violence directed towards Dubuque schools "very seriously" and reminded people they are always "investigated thoroughly."
Read more about the latest developments of this story on KWWL's website.