By David Rogers, The Amesbury News
The Amesbury, Mass. Police Department is reviewing its security measures after learning it may have been the target of a thwarted bombing.
Police Sgt. Bill Scholtz said information obtained through interviewing the suspected makers of five pipe bombs has spurred a call to change the way the department handles packages inside the station.
“We were mentioned as a possible target - not so much for the pipes bombs,” Scholtz said, “but the Police Department and police cruisers were mentioned as targets for an explosive device.”
The mother of a 16-year-old Amesbury High School student Monday unknowingly brought the homemade bombs, empty of gunpowder, to the station after finding BB handguns inside her son’s backpack.
When Officer Kevin Donovan opened the bag, he discovered the bombs. The bag also contained an unknown number of shotgun shells. After calling the state police bomb squad, Amesbury police evacuated the station and moved operations to the fire department next door. Emergency 911 calls, according to Police Lt. Gary Ingham, were fielded by Merrimac police during the incident.
“I think these kids, if they didn’t blow up themselves, could have carried out some of the things they mentioned,” Scholtz said.
He quickly ruled out the high school or any of its students as potential targets. To allay fears, however, the School Department sent letters to parents assuring them that there was no connection, according to Amesbury High Principal Les Murray.
Scholtz said one possible security measure would involve installing a secure catch box inside the station large enough to hold large packages. Another possibility is procedural: to ask those who find suspicious packages to leave them where discovered so police can tend to the packages where found. A timetable for changing security measures has not been established, as Scholtz said the department is in preliminary talks on the matter.
The 16-year-old juvenile, along with 18-year-old Evan Smith of 7 Maudslay View Lane, were arrested Tuesday in connection with the bomb scare. The juvenile was arrested at his Union Court home, while Smith was taken into custody after an interview at the police department.
Essex County District Attorney’s Office spokesman Steven O’Connell said the juvenile was arraigned Tuesday in Newburyport District Court in juvenile session, where he pleaded not delinquent to possession of an infernal machine, possession of a hoax device, possession of a shotgun or a rifle without a firearm identification card and wanton destruction of property.
Judge Jose Sanchez ordered the juvenile held on $30,000 cash bail and continued his case to April 27 for a pre-trial conference The juvenile is being held at an unknown Department of Youth Services center.
Smith was arraigned Wednesday at Newburyport District Court for malicious destruction of property, possession of an infernal machine and possession of a hoax machine. Judge Richard Mori set bail at $2,500 cash after prosecutors asked for $10,000. Smith’s case was continued until May 14 for a pre trail conference. He is being held in the Middleton Jail, according to O’Connell.
A third suspect, Fred Elwell, 17, 4 Macy Terrace, was issued a summons for malicious damage of property over $250. Both Smith and Elwell attended the high school before leaving for undisclosed reasons, Murray said.
The malicious damage charges came as a result of the state police bomb squad exploding the pipe bomb caps inside the interview room of the School Street police station. The blasts caused an estimated $8,000 worth of damage, most of that coming from the destruction of four flak jackets used to shield the explosions.
Amesbury Fire Chief Bill Shute said a nearby convenience store was evacuated as well. Emergency medical units were outside the station, Shute said, in case something went wrong while the bombs were detonated.
Even before the bomb threat, police were looking for the juvenile suspect, according to Ingham, in connection with a domestic assault and battery incident.