A Peruvian national has been detained for allegedly sending over 150 false bomb threat letters to schoolchildren all over the United States, including several in Alaska.
Peruvian authorities arrested Eddie Manuel Nunez Santos, 33, in Lima, Peru, on Tuesday.
Nunez Santos has been charged within the Southern District of New York with sending threatening messages and also soliciting a child of 15 years old for sexually explicit and naked photos. When she and the other children were unable to follow his instructions which were made via an online game, in which Nunez Santos was posing as a teen identified as “Lucas” He sent bomb threats to schools airports, synagogues and synagogues hospitals, and even a mall as a retaliation in accordance with federal charges.
The threats were sent between September. 15-21, communities across Alaska, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Arizona.
“I put multiple bombs in every school in your school districts,” Nunez Santos is reported to have wrote in the email. “The bombs are going to explode within a couple of hours.”
The charges state that the FBI agents was able find a number that was associated with Nunez Santos by examining the email domain names and the providers.
Schools across Alaska were faced with different responses to threats. Dillingham closed its schools as districts in schools in Annette Island and Southeast Island districts evacuated their schools as a reaction. In response, the Anchorage School District was also subject to threats, but decided not to close its schools.
“The threat is a broad nature and does not provide specific details,” Corey Young, an Anchorage School District spokesperson sent an email sent to parents on the day of the incident. “Regardless the threat, we will take the threat very seriously.”
Federal authorities have said that tens of thousands of students were evicted across the nation.
“Not just did Santos betray his victims by sending hundreds of fake bomb threats that targeted hospitals, schools and churches He also allegedly attempted to extort innocent teenagers,” said James Smith the assistant director in charge of the New York FBI Field Office. “His actions squandered resources of law enforcement and put first responders into risk, and harmed children.”
According to the accusations that Nunez Santos was an internet developer in Peru and employed a VPN to connect with underage victims. VPNs are commonly used to hide an individual’s online activities.
The allegations against Nunez Santos could result in a sentence that ranges from thirty years up to a lifetime.
