Woman charged in bomb threat to Lexington County school
Police arrested and charged a Lexington County woman with calling in a bomb threat to a Lexington District 1 school Friday, according to police.
Pelion Police Department charged 44-year-old Felissa Connelley of Pelion with threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction.
On Dec. 13, an unknown caller with a woman’s voice contacted Forts Pond Elementary School. The caller said twice “there is a bomb in the school,” Pelion Police Department said in a statement. The school was evacuated. District officials and police put three other nearby schools on lock down as a precaution.
Agents with The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division were called to help investigate. The agents deployed bomb detecting dogs to search the school. No bombs were found.
Authorities investigated and discovered that the call was made from a phone app that used a voice over internet protocol, also known as an V.O.I.P., the police statement said. Police obtained search warrants for phone and electronic records and traced the call back to Connelley, according to Pelion police.
Pelion police officers arrested Connelley Friday at the Masters Inn on Commerce Drive in Cayce. Officer booked Connelley at Lexington County Detention Center and a judge released her on a $10,000 bond.
“No one should be allowed to frighten 552 elementary school students having a normal school day and their parents with a threat,” said Lexington 1 Superintendent Greg Little in a statement. “Although we placed all the Pelion schools on lockout and evacuated and relocated Forts Pond Elementary students, the Pelion parents and their children were champions throughout the day.
“We are grateful to Pelion Chief of Police Mike Crider, his officers and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division for today’s arrest. We work closely with our law enforcement partners and are grateful that they make the safety and security of all students and staff their priority.”
Threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction carries a minimum sentence of 25 years imprisonment and a maximum of life in prison.
This story was originally published February 1, 2020 at 4:20 PM.