Ephrata school bomb threat suspect arrested

EPHRATA — A man was arrested on Thursday for allegedly sending an Ephrata School District employee an email in which he claimed a bomb was at each school in the city.

Ephrata Police Department Chief Mike Warren explained Thursday morning a Ephrata High School employee received an email in which the sender, who was using a fake name, claimed there was a bomb at all of the schools in the district.

“We reviewed it and based on the experience that we’ve had (we) didn’t consider it a credible threat so we didn’t evacuate everybody,” Warren said.

Instead of police searching every school in the district, school staff searched the buildings as police attempted to track down the person who sent the email. No bombs or suspicious devices or packages were located in any of the schools.

“I kind of suspected there wouldn’t be. You know, because generally if it’s a credible threat it’s more specific.”

Police were able to track down the sender of the email’s IP address and arrested 26-year-old Aaron Stetner. Warren said Stetner used a mobile device to send the email. Stetner was booked into the Grant County Jail for making bomb threats.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.