Teen to be charged after 3 threats in 8 days at Norwin High School

A 14-year-old will be charged with terroristic threats and more after three threats were found in eight days in a Norwin High School bathroom stall.

The threats prompted the building to be evacuated, the hallways to be searched and law enforcement called in.

"It's insane. It's like they think it's a joke and they need to take it serious," said parent Kim Fowler Guthrie.

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Norwin School District sent home a letter about the resolution to parents.

The 14 year old was connected to all three threats and will be charged with terroristic threats, reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct, but police want to see more being done.

“It's very serious and it follows you around forever,” said Lt. Rod Mahinske of the North Huntingdon Township police. “Try to get into college with a terroristic threats charge against you.”

Det. Kirk Youngstead is reaching out to legislators to develop a separate and specific crimes code to deal with school threats.

"We would like to have a very specific law dealing with threats toward education facilities, and or educators," he said. "And I think they need to educate these kids in school about the severity of what they're doing."

The latest search at Norwin involved five different bomb-sniffing K9s to sweep the school. There have been nearly 50 threats against schools in western Pennsylvania since the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 14.

The head of the Region 13 bomb-sniffing K9 teams says it's taxing on resources, and can be very expensive. North Huntingdon says on average, it's costing about $5,000 per threat.

“This is so disruptive to the school district, so disruptive to us,” said Mahinske.

Cox Media Group