Story originally printed in the Vernon Broadcaster or online at www.vernonbroadcaster.com
Published - Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Felony charge filed for bomb scare
A 17-year-old rural Genoa youth is facing a felony charge of causing a bomb scare at Viroqua High School and Middle School on Dec. 2.
In a criminal complaint filed in Vernon County Circuit Court this week, Malphais J. Lawrence, is alleged to have written a note on a restroom wall indicating a bomb was going to explode in the school. Lawrence faces one class "I" felony count titled “Bomb Scare,” punishable by a maximum penalty of 3.5 years of imprisonment and a $10,000 fine.
The exact content of the note, according to the criminal complaint was, "There is a bomb in the metal’s shop it will go off at 3pm today haha sucks 2 be you guys."
Shortly after the bomb threat was found, the high school and middle school were evacuated and the building searched by members of the Viroqua Police Department and a K-9 explosive-sniffing dog from the La Crosse Police Department.
School officials had known that Lawrence had left school property without permission earlier in the day that the bomb threat was found.
Lawrence eventually told a Viroqua police investigator that he was responsible for writing the threat on the restroom wall.
An initial court appearance for Lawrence had not yet been scheduled as Tuesday morning.
Last week the Viroqua schools had another bomb threat which led to the evacuation of all school facilities, Wednesday, Dec. 10.
All Viroqua public schools were evacuated, Wednesday, Dec. 10, due to a bomb threat.
Students were led out according to the school’s evacuation plan. The Viroqua Police Department was on the scene.
According to a note sent home with elementary school students, elementary school principal Kathy Trussoni said, "Due to a bomb threat in the middle school today, which did not indicate the location of the threat, all schools in the district were evacuated as a precautionary measure."
"After inspection by authorities, we were given the all clear to return to the elementary school," the note said.
Viroqua Police Chief Mark Rahr said interviews have been conducted regarding that bomb threat, although no single suspect has yet been identified.
Those responsible for causing bomb scares can face both felony prosecution and expulsion.
All stories copyright 2006 Vernon Broadcaster and other attributed sources.