Teens Charged After Making Bomb Threat On VIA Train

Several teenagers are facing charges after a fake bomb threat was called into a VIA train.

Chatham-Kent Police say that around 9:00pm on January 1st, dispatch received a 9-1-1 call from an anonymous complainant claiming there was a bomb onboard their Via Rail train.

Emergency Communications Operators were able to establish that the caller was currently on a westbound passenger train heading towards Chatham. Prior to arriving at the Queen Street Station, the train was stopped near Sass Road and Colborne Street and boarded by members of the Chatham-Kent Police Service.

Officers were subsequently able to locate the caller, a 15-year-old young person, along with three additional youths ranging from ages 13 to 16.
Through investigation, police determined that the bomb threat had actually been fabricated and called in by the youth as a joke. The 15-year-old young person was consequently placed under arrest for public mischief.

Further investigation revealed that three of the youths, including the initial caller, were breaching release conditions that prohibited them from associating with each other, and they were arrested accordingly. All three young persons were ultimately transported to police headquarters to be held in custody pending a bail hearing the following morning.