Taft Middle School student accused of making bomb threat

A 12-year-old Taft Middle School student accused of threatening to “blow up” the school was arrested Friday on complaints of disorderly conduct and making a bomb threat to a school, police said.

Officials told police the student became disruptive in class Friday and a teacher assigned him to attend Saturday school, a weekend detention punishment. The boy responded by saying, “he was going to come to Saturday school with a block of C4 on his chest and blow up the school,” according to the police report.

A seventh-grade teacher said the boy made the threat in a loud voice and several students heard it.

The campus resource officers from Taft and Northwest Classen High School searched the building for possible explosive devices or other dangerous items, school district spokeswoman Tierney Tinnin said Monday afternoon.

“It's not a joke for us. It's not a phrase that should be taken lightly by our students or our staff,” Tinnin said. “There are consequences for using that language. ... Our schools are safe places and those types of threats — any type of threat that involves harming students or staff — will not be tolerated.”

Police also received a referral on the student Friday for writing “Death to Americans” on a note card when he was supposed to be working on an assignment. According to the report, the boy later made a written statement that said, “You take this to (sic) seriously.”

He was taken into custody and suspended, pending a long-term hearing, police said.