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CRIME, POLICE + COURTS

Teen charged with attempted murder in suspected bombing attempt

UPDATED: MARCH 27, 2018 AT 8:08 AM
BY
Former reporter

ST. GEORGE — A 17-year-old Pine View High School student was charged in 5th District Juvenile Court with attempted murder, a first-degree felony, and use of a weapon of mass destruction, a first-degree felony, after police say he brought a homemade bomb to school on March 5th and tried to light it.

KSL Newsradio is withholding the teen’s name because of his age.

Police said the bomb failed to detonate and several students reported the backpack to administration after it started smoking. The school was temporarily evacuated as the Washington County bomb squad investigated.

In court documents, officers who took the teen in for questioning state he confessed to making and attempting to detonate the bomb.

When asked if he meant to hurt anyone, the documents quoted the teen as replying, “Kind of a little bit. If someone got hurt, I probably wouldn’t care.”

He then said it was a “fun kind of thing.”

The 17-year-old is also facing charges for graffiti, a class A misdemeanor, and abuse of a flag, a class B misdemeanor, for his suspected part in the vandalism of Hurricane High school. In court documents, police said the teen admitted to taking down a flag at the school and replacing it with a homemade ISIS flag, then spray painting the partial phrase “ISIS is comi–” on a school wall.