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Jeremy Gersovitz Deputy County Attorney Lewis and Clark County Courthouse - 228 Broadway Helena, MT 59601
(406) 447-8221

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MONTANA FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT YOUTH COURT LEWIS AND CLARK COUNTY

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In the Matter of No. DJ 2014-13 A Youth Under the Age of 18.

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AFFIDAVIT

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STATE OF MONTANA :ss. County of Lewis and Clark

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[]

COpy

Jeremy Gersovitz,
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being duly sworn upon oath, deposes

and states: the facts set forth below in this affidavit were provided the undersigned by Officers Loren Mardis, Cory Bailey to

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and

Nathan Casey of the Helena Police Department and support the allegations of three counts of intimidation, MCA. 8:36 a.m., was felony, in

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violation of Section 45-5-203(2), 7

On Monday, March 17, 2014, at approximately 8

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Officer Loren Mardis of the Helena Police Department

just pulling into his parking spot at Capitol High School (CHS), 100 Valley Drive in Helena, where he is assigned as the school resource officer, when he was contacted by the
" . .. \:$,

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When he spoke with the

Helena Interagency Dispatch Center.

dispatcher, Officer Mardis was advised that they had received a phone call from an anonymous person who claimed there was a bomb in the CHS gymnasium. the dispatcher Bailey. Officer Mardis told

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to contact command staff and Sgt. Cory

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Then Officer Mardis went into the school, contacted Assistant threat. Principal Walt Chancy, and advised him of the The school administrator told Officer Mardis that from

23 they would visually 24 there. On their way to the gym, the pair encountered inspect the gym and then proceed

Principal Brett Zanto. The three men entered the gym, In

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which a class was being conducted, and divided up the search 1 2 3

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duties.

Assistant

Principal Kathy Kidder, who happened to No items of concern

be in the gym, joined in the search. were located.

The three school officials and the peace officer met in an adjacent room. Officer Mardis called dispatch and they The caller, who sounded to

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played the phone call for him.

Officer Mardis like a high school age male, said, "Bomb in

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gYm.
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Capital High.

100 Valley Drive. please come quick."

The call had been received at 8:31 that morning. School administrators weighed the circumstances of the

threat and decided against any additional police intervention or an evacuation of CHS.

Then, two days later, on March 19, 2014, at approximately 8:47 a.m., Helena Middle School Resource

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Officer Cory Bailey was asked to contact the Helena Interagency Dispatch Center. He spoke with a dispatcher who advised that they had just had a bomb threat called in relative Elementary officer. Schools. The dispatcher played "Hi. to Helena Public the call for the

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He heard a male state:

I just left two

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backpacks with C-4 at the elementary

school and

am about

to blow them up. "(C-4 is a common variety of the plastic explosive known as Composition
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C.)

The dispatcher
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is heard to ask the caller which

elementary
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school and the caller stated ftHelena" (but it as ftHeleena". The male then stated: The dispatcher again tried to get

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mispronounced

ftwho's laughing now?"

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details as to which elementary school was the target but the caller only stated something to the effect that ftit'sgoing to blow." The male then finished by saying ftI'marmed" The dispatcher was able to capture a When called, however, that

before hanging up. phone number of number returned service.

406-235-11III

to a ftMagicJack" internet based telephone

Sgt. Bailey contacted Assistant

Superintendent

Greg

Upham and advised him of the bomb threat. able to have Upham and Superintendent

The officer was

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Kent Kultgen listen to

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the threat that had been called in.

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The school administrators

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decided

to evacuate all of

the elementary
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schools.

They also requested that police of the buildings. Alerts, were

officers do a walk-through

sent out to the schools and to the parents of all the school children. dispatched Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's deputies were to search the schools in their jurisdictions. their schools in their

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East Helena Police Officers searched city.

Nothing suspicious was located and students and

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staff were allowed back into the schools. 1 2 3
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It was later established

that the caller had used the threat. dispatch got an 8:37 in

same phone number as during Monday's Then on Friday, March 21, 2014, a.m. call from a male reporting

that there were bombs

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all Helena area schools, K-12, which were scheduled to detonate around noon. This resulted in all the schools

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and students.
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Capt. Corey Livesay of the Helena Police Department

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had

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been working with the FBI locally to obtain the location of the device used to make the calls. of the Helena Police Department advised Detective Nathan Casey

spoke with the FBI today and

them of the third bomb threat and that it had from the same phone number as the other two calls The FBI told him that they Dublin, and it a juvenile.

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originated

and that the voice was the same. had a possible California. was believed suspect,

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His email address the suspect was probably

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Detective Casey called the Dublin Police Department ~ School Resource Officer who was able to locate ~t Dublin High School and take him into custody. eventually confessed to making all three threats. He even

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had the iPod with him with a Magic Jack app that he said he
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used to make the phone threats. He also implicated 1

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a 16 year

old Helena high school student who he said he had met when they communicated over Xbox while gaming. The two to the same

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eventually collaborated ~

on the threats according

Police in Helena had been developing

information. The Youth, is under the age of 18

and is a resident of Alemeda County, California.

0\
Dated this

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day of

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2 014.

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sovitz, Deputy County Attorney lark County, Montana

State of Montana County of Lewis and Clark :ss )

. <;.1-

Subscribed and sworn to before me this

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day of

______ ~+U~~r-------~--,2014.
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(SEAL)

Notary Public fori the Residing at Helena, Cornrni ssion expi res

CAREY M. KAUFMAN NOTARY PUBLIC for the

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State of Montana
Residing at Helena, Monlana My Commission Expires January 3D, 2018