Virginia woman charged with making bomb threat against Harford Community College
On Friday, January 3, just after 10 a.m., Harford Community College in Bel Air, Maryland, issued an emergency alert saying that the institution had received a “non-specific threat to the campus,” and closed their campus down for the remainder of that day.
Out of an abundance of caution we will be closed for the remainder of the day, Friday, January 3, 2020, while we investigate the matter. All scheduled classes, events and programs scheduled for today are canceled. Anyone currently on campus without transportation should report to the first floor of the Library for assistance. ~ HCC
Later that day, HCC came back to report that the local sheriff’s office had been there and gone, and that all was safe – and that the campus would reopen, and classes would resume the following day.
By January 5, the Harford County Sheriff’s Office reported that a 22-year-old Fairfax woman was in custody and charged in connection to a bomb threat that was made against Harford Community College that Friday.
Deputies responded to HCC on Friday, January 3, at approximately 9 a.m., for the report of a bomb threat. Upon arrival, deputies were informed a staff member found a threatening email, sent late the previous night, stating someone was going to plant pipe bombs on campus. The campus was evacuated while deputies, with assistance of K9 Units from several allied agencies, searched the campus for potential explosives. None were located.
Detectives with the Harford County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division responded to assume the investigation. Contact was made with the person of interest from whose email account the threat was sent. Through investigation, it was determined that individual was not responsible for sending the email, but was a victim of an e-mail hack.
Further investigation determined an individual, who had previously been in a relationship with the person of interest, had hacked into his email and sent the threat. The suspect was identified as Amara Mallory Leonard, 22, of Fairfax, Virginia.
Leonard turned herself in to the Harford County Detention Center on Saturday, January 4. She was charged with Threat of Mass Violence, Threat of Arson, False Statement, and Disturbing School Operations. She is being held without bail.
The investigation remains active and ongoing. No further information will be released at this time. Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call the Harford County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division at 410-879-7929.
(Source: Harford County Sheriff’s Office)
~ Written by: Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Follow Richard on Facebook and Twitter
