Published: February 28, 2008 03:41 pm            

Bomb suspect facing federal charges

Jacob Watson, 19, remains in jail

LONDON — The man accused of phoning in the bomb threat which canceled classes in the McCreary County school system on January 30 is now facing a federal charge.

Jacob W. Watson, age 19, of Stearns was ar-rested February 8 by Kentucky State Police in connection to the case.

Last Friday, Watson was fed-erally charged based on a six-page affidavit from Thomas L. Chittum III, an agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, To-bacco, Firearms and Explo-sives.

Watson is charged with violating the Federal Explosives Control Statute [USC § 844(e)] and faces up to 10 years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine if convicted.

According to the affidavit, Watson allegedly used a pay phone outside of JR’s Service Station in Whitley City to call the McCreary County 911 Center at approximately 12:05 a.m. the morning of January 30 claiming that a bomb would explode at McCreary Central High School later that day.

Though no explicit motive was stated, the affidavit indicates that Watson told a juvenile “that he would not be having schools tomorrow because he, Watson, had called in a bomb threat.”

Indeed school officials did cancel classes on January 30 with police searching the high school and finding no evidence of a bomb.

McCreary 911 dispatchers received a second call at approximately 10:34 p.m. Wednesday night, again claiming that the bomb was going to blow up the high school. This call was placed from Wilson’s Quick Stop in Pine Knot where, according to the affidavit, a false accident report had been called in the night before from a pay phone just 18 minutes prior to the first bomb threat.

After a second extensive search, authorities found no bomb and school continued on Thursday, January 31, as scheduled.

KSP Detective Billy Correll, lead investigator in the case, played a recording of the three false reports for school board employees that Thursday, from which they were able to identify the caller of the accident and second bomb threat as a juvenile high school student.

An interview with that juvenile led police to Watson, Brandon “BJ” Duncan and Joseph Chase Jones — all of whom the juvenile claimed were with him when he made the second bomb threat.

Further investigation revealed Watson as the caller who made the first bomb threat. In his affidavit, Chittum said Watson attempted to place the blame on someone else and coerce the others into going along with that story.

Watson and the juvenile were both charged by KSP on February 8. Duncan and Jones were not charged.

McCreary County Schools Superintendent Arthur D. Wright told The Record yesterday that he could not comment on the status of the juvenile but added, “We appreciate the Kentucky State Police and all agencies who helped bring this matter to a close.”

At press time, Watson was the only defendant facing a federal charge. A graduate from McCreary Central in 2007, he was once a star member of the school’s wrestling team. He was scheduled for his first federal court appearance in London yesterday afternoon.

        

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