Teenage Boy In United Kingdom Facing Charges of Threatening Arizona Schools

Youth allegedly also had child porn in his possession

Cheyenne Traditional School in Scottsdale, Ariz., was among several Scottsdale schools and businesses that were targeted by a prank teenage caller in the United Kingdom. The boy is now facing charges in the UK. Cheyenne Traditional School photo

A teenage boy is in police custody in the United Kingdom after he allegedly phoned threats to several schools and businesses in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Scottsdale police said the boy was arrested by British law enforcement on April 12 for offenses related to “swatting” calls he made to seven schools and three businesses over the past several days. 

Swatting is a prank call to emergency services so as to cause the dispatch of officers to a particular address.

Police said the youth is also accused of possessing “indecent images of children and distributing them across the internet.”

“He will remain in the United Kingdom and go through the justice system there,” Scottsdale police said in a statement.

The alleged swatting incidents took place on April 8 and April 11 and affected Scottsdale Preparatory Academy, Notre Dame Preparatory Academy, the Scottsdale United School District office, Pima Traditional School, Hohokam Elementary, Cheyenne Traditional School, and Cochise Elementary.

Pima Traditional School in Scottsdale, Ariz., was also targeted by a teenage boy in the United Kingdom who is now facing charges stemming from phoned threats to several Scottsdale schools and businesses. Pima Traditional School

Scottsdale businesses that were affected were Tommy V’s, OHSO Distillery, and Desert Schools Federal Credit Union.

A spokeswoman at OHSO Distillery said the company had “no comment” on the incident. Officials at several other impacted schools and the Scottsdale Unified School District could not be reached for comment.

On April 12, police in the United Kingdom arrested the youth for his alleged involvement in calling in several threats while claiming he was armed with a firearm and was going to “shoot up a certain school or on his way to a certain school,” Scottsdale police said.

“Each threat was taken seriously, investigated thoroughly, and no credible threat was found on the school campuses or other locations,” police said. 

However, the initial threats caused several schools to go into temporary lockdown until the threats could be verified as false, they added.

The incidents prompted a joint investigation with Homeland Security Investigations in London, which traced the suspected caller’s location to near Manchester, England.

Scottsdale police were not immediately available for comment on whether the boy will face charges in Arizona.