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Coleman man charged for allegedly making threats against high school

Coleman man charged for allegedly making threats against high school
Posted at 2:58 PM, Oct 20, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-20 15:58:44-04

A former Coleman High School student was charged Friday for making threats against the school, causing an evacuation Monday.

Jacob Peterson, 24, of Coleman was charged with making terrorist threats, telephone harassment and resisting an officer after police said he left a threatening voicemail on the school's phone.

Peterson allegedly admitted to making the call and leaving the message, according to court documents.

Around 8:42 a.m. on October 16, police were called to Coleman High School after school administrators heard the threatening voicemail.

The message allegedly said, "Wait until tomorrow, the high school library is going down," according to a criminal complaint.

Police and school administrators decided to evacuate the school buildings and eventually send both high school and elementary students home. 

After a search, investigators did not find anything suspicious in the either building.

Police Chief Ida Soletske believed she recognized the voice on the message as that of Jacob Peterson, court documents said.

Multiple Village of Coleman administrators, a Coleman High School teacher and the Coleman Fire Chief listened to the message and confirmed it was Peterson's voice, the criminal complaint said.

Officers went to Peterson's home and brought him to the police station for questioning, where he eventually admitted to them he made the call, saying it was "just a stupid thing" because he was bored with playing video games, the criminal complaint alleged.

When officers told him he was under arrest, he resisted and tried to get away, forcing officers to push him into a squad car and dent it, court documents explained.

Peterson's phone records showed he was searching for information about mass shootings at schools and searched online for Coleman High School, police said.

Peterson was previously convicted of endangering safety by use of a dangerous weapon and disorderly conduct in 2015.

His next court date has not been scheduled.