Young woman arrested for false shooting threat
Local Crime News
MATTAWA - An 18-year-old Mattawa woman was arrested for phoning in a false threat concerning Wahluke High School on Wednesday, Jan. 16.
Jennifer Lopez, a senior at the school, was arrested after a joint investigation by the Mattawa Police, the Grant County Sheriff's Office and Wahluke School District.
Investigators identified Lopez as the person who called in the MACC 911 center early saying she had received a private message on Facebook which stated someone was going to go to the school to commit a multiple shooting.
According to Mattawa Police Chief John Turley, Lopez was identified by a voice recognition device.
She had refused to identify herself to dispatchers when she made the call, Sheriff Tom Jones said, but the system pin-pointed the call as coming from Mattawa.
A search warrant was served, Jones said, enabling investigators to access Lopez's Facebook account, which revealed that no such private message was received by Lopez.
Jones called the incident a hoax but noted that such hoaxes have consequences. The threat forced Wahluke schools into a limited lockdown for three days.
Lopez was taken to Grant County Jail on suspicion of making threats to bomb or injure property. The Wahluke School District has expelled her.
There was no incident, and no one was injured. Still, there was concern. The Wahluke School District implemented its emergency procedures during that time.
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