13-year-old charged in connection to threats at Dover Middle School

DOVER, Del. – Dover Police arrested a 13-year-old on Tuesday after he reportedly made threats toward the Dover Middle School campus.

Just before 2:30 p.m., Dover Police reportedly received three calls through 911 from the same number, stating that there was a bomb at the school. Police say the last call stated that there was going to be a shooting on the campus. Before these calls were received, the school was already preparing for afternoon dismissal, with parents and buses waiting. The School Resource Officers were notified of the threats, and several additional officers were called in to help. In collaboration with Capital School District staff, the decision was made with dismiss students on time, with officers present to provide extra security.

After all staff and students left the school, a thorough search was conducted by Dover PD officers, K-9 units from the Dover Air Force Base, New Castle County Police Department, Delaware Natural Resources police, and Capital Police Department. After an approximately 2-hour long search, the school was deemed safe.

Further investigation led detectives to identify a 13-year-old male as the person responsible for making the threats. The teen is not a student at Dover Middle School.

Police arrested the teen on Wednesday, charging him with terroristic threatening and malicious interference with emergency communications. He was then turned over to a guardian.