The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff, Wire Reports

Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 07:22 PM

Kansas Elementary School Secretary Arrested After Emailing Bomb Threat To School

Police in Kansas say an elementary school secretary was arrested Wednesday in connection with an emailed bomb threat that forced a school district to cancel classes and afterschool activities over two days earlier this week.

Claudia Rodriguez-Oviedo, 32, was being held in the Pratt County jail on felony charges of aggravated criminal threat and unlawful use of computers.

In a statement, police said staff members at Pratt High School received the threat from a fake email account Monday. In response, Unified School District 382 canceled classes at all schools Tuesday while law enforcement officials searched all Pratt school facilities. No device was found.

In a letter to the district’s parents, Suzan Patton wrote that “late-night developments” Tuesday led to Rodriguez-Ovideo’s arrest the following day. She did not elaborate on what those developments were. Pratt Police Det. Jeff Ward said officers acted on information “obtained through a cooperative investigation by school officials and local law enforcement officers.”

Rodriguez-Oviedo had been listed on the Pratt Public School’s website as a secretary at Southwest Elementary School. Her image was removed following her arrest