Arrest Made in Connection With Orange County School Bomb Threat

On Monday January 10th students in an Orange County school were evacuated from the building after a reported bomb threat that allegedly came in over the phone.  An arrest has since been made.

The S.S. Seward Institute in Orange County, part of the Florida Union Free School District , implemented their lockdown and evacuation procedures, and eventually bussed students to the Orange County Sports Club in Goshen around 2pm on the 10th while law enforcement responded to the report.  According to The New York State Police Newsroom, a series of phone calls were received by the SS Seward Institute High School suggesting there was a threat of violence at the school.

It was reported that Law Enforcement officers from the State Police, Village of Florida Police Department, Warwick Police Department, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, Village of Chester Police Department, Town of Chester Police Department, and the Woodbury Police Department immediately searched the facility and it was determined that the threat wasn’t credible.

The investigation was then continued by the New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation, with the assistance of the FBI Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force, and the Village of Florida Police Department.  Efforts resulted in the arrest of a juvenile suspect for Falsely Reporting an Incident in the first degree which is a Class D Felony.  Due to the age of the suspect no personal information about their identity has been released.

A letter from the Florida Union Free School District Superintendent, Larry Leaven, addressing the incident at the S.S. Seward School can be found here.  In his letter, Superintendent Leaven talks about the challenging week the school faced, and the emotional toll it took on the community.