Local Man Arrested in Connection to Louisiana State Bomb Threat
BySoon after the arrest of the man who made false bomb threat to Arkansas State University Tuesday, a local man in Louisiana has been taken into custody for allegedly making similar bomb call threat to Louisiana State University.
The suspect named William Bouvey Jr. of Baton Rouge was arrested late Tuesday on charges of communicating false information of a planned bombing, the university police said.
His false call led to the complete evacuation of the Baton Rouge campus which was hosting a majority of the university's 30,000 students, professors and employees.
According to the university statement, the suspect has admitted making the call.
"Upon questioning, he admitted to making the phone call," LSU Police Capt. Corey Lalonde said, adding that Bouvay has been cooperative.
He also added that Bouvey was not a student of the school and had no connection to the university whatsoever and the motive behind the threat is still unknown.
Investigators are skeptical about the possibility that Bouvay is connected to threats made last week at college campuses in Texas, North Dakota and Ohio.
An anonymous call came into 911 at 10:32 a.m. Monday warning of multiple bombs placed in the campus. The university immediately issued an emergency alert on its website and alerted everyone through text message and social media. Following the evacuation, the authorities spent most of the day searching for the explosives, but there were none to be found.
The evacuation caused traffic jams in surrounding areas and the routine life in and around the campus came to a complete halt amid confusion, fear and anticipation.
But, LSU Police Investigators along with assistance from other Law Enforcement agencies were able to determine that the 911 call had been made from a deactivated cell phone that could only make emergency calls, reads the university statement.
Thanks to the advanced technology and naivety of the caller, investigators were able to pinpoint a GPS location from which the call was made, later identified as a location on Skysail Ave. in Baton Rouge, La.
The area of the call's origin was searched by investigators, through which Bouvay was identified as a suspect. Bouvay voluntarily agreed to go with investigators to LSUPD for further questioning, university statement said.