A bomb threat made to Fulton Middle School on Tuesday morning was foiled by administrators, police officers and the school information technology department.
At 7:30 a.m., the assistant principal at the middle school opened an email, received Monday night, that threatened to bomb the school.
A joint investigation between the school's IT department and the Fulton Police Department was able to identify the suspect, an eighth-grade male student who was not at school that morning. Officials determined the threat was not credible.
Fulton police detained the student at 10:30 a.m. He was charged with one felony count of making a terrorist threat and referred to the Callaway County Juvenile Office.
Fulton Police Maj. Roger Rice said students need to understand the seriousness of making a threat to the school.
"I don't know if it was a prank or what it was, but it was obviously a student doing something not very bright," he said. "These kids need to understand that this stuff isn't funny. They will be investigated, and they will be prosecuted."
Rice said he is grateful the police department and school district have a good working relationship. He lauded the district's IT department for its hard work.
"The school and us always work well together," he added. "They have a very good IT department. We knew pretty who we were looking for by the time we left."
Jacque Cowherd, superintendent of the Fulton School District, said he was happy with how everything was handled Tuesday.
"I'm pleased with our technology staff," he said. "I think the other piece of it is that it took all three groups, the IT department, middle school administration and the Fulton police. We work hard to ensure these kids are safe."