TEXAS – During a Crime Stoppers news conference Tuesday, we learned a 16-year-old Spring Branch Independent School District student was attempting to make explosives last month.
Spring Branch ISD Police Chief Larry Baimbridge said on Feb. 27, Spring Branch ISD High School received a tip from Crime Stoppers regarding a student who was attempting to make explosives. Officers immediately located the student, took him out of class and interviewed him.
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During the interview, Bainbridge said the student admitted to trying to build “fireworks.” He also took officers to the location where he was experimenting with making the explosives. The Houston Police Department Bomb Squad investigated the location and touched some of the components that were being used to make the explosives. Fortunately, they discovered the student didn’t have all the necessary components to make an explosive, but they did confirm that he was close.
Baimbridge said the District Attorney’s Office declined to charge the student, saying there was no direct threat nor did he express a desire to blow up a school.
“I always believe if the elements of the crime are there, that charges should be filed. And in this case, I believe we had those elements of the crime. And so, if you look at the penal code, and you look at those, you know, again, for building and making explosives, I believe we met those elements of the crime. And so, again, I can’t speak for why charges were not accepted. I can only attest to what we did as law enforcement based on the information the tipster provided,” Baimbridge said.
This incident came days after two teenage girls were arrested and charged after allegedly plotting to harm students at Memorial High School with guns and pipe bombs.
On Feb. 20, the two girls, ages 15 and 16 years old, were arrested after making specific and detailed threats on social media. The 16-year-old girl was zoned to Memorial High School but was attending an alternative school in the district for students who fall behind. The 15-year-old girl attended Willis High School.
Baimbridge said the 16-year-old student has since been charged with making a terrorist threat, while the 15-year-old is facing unrelated charges out of Montgomery County for something she was found in possession of at the time of her arrest.