Joshua John Richards, 33, has been arrested for scaring his classmates with a fake bomb threat in an English class at the Salem International University, March 19.
Richards is charged with the manufacture, purchase, transport or and possession of a hoax bomb- a misdemeanor count punishable with six months to a year in prison, if found guilty.
He is currently, out on $5,000 bail, but will appear in court in four to six weeks.
Harrison County Magistrate Frank DeMarco, said that during interrogation Richards claimed that he had used the bomb threat as part of a class project. He was very sorry for scaring his classmates, which he did unintentionally.
Richards will be also asked to pay thousands of dollars in compensation for the money spent on responding to the emergency by the fire and police departments, four emergency services teams and a bomb squad.
In order to make his scheduled communication class presentation, 'What someone would do if a neighbor had a bomb' look artistic; Richards apparently used a black box with flashing lights to practically explain the concept.
However, certain female students got terrified and started crying. He then took the device out to his car and waited for the authorities to arrive.
This was followed by a 911 call to the law enforcement agencies by the security guards, evacuation of the campus and cancellation of the remaining classes for the day.
Police officials allege that Richards was obviously frightened once his classmates got alarmed and hysterical.
Student Stephanie Morgan said that she and her classmates believed it to be a real bomb threat and that's the reason they all got terrified and hysterical.
After seeing his classmates go wild, Richards confessed to them that it was a fake one.
"He was trying to be artsy, I guess. You can get away with that in acting class, but it didn't work here," Harrison County Prosecutor Joe Shaffer said. "A bomb squad examined the device and determined it wasn't a bomb."
