Bladen County teens arrested during school threat investigation

BLADEN COUNTY, NC (WWAY) – Bladen County deputies have arrested two more teens accused of making threats of school violence.

Deputies say on Tuesday afternoon, students at West Bladen showed a teacher a Snapchat message that had gone out to other students threatening violence at the school.

Investigators were again called and with the help of the FBI, they isolated the IP address and identified the user.

Deputies say three teens were involved.

Deputies arrested Andrew Blake Hester, 17, of Bladenboro on Tuesday night. This morning, they arrested Alexander Alamin Pone, 16, of Elizabethtown. The third suspect, who is 14, will be served with a Juvenile Petition later today.

Hester and Pone are charged as adults because of their age.

Deputies say they were released into the custody of their parents. They were charged with Making a False Report Concerning Mass Violence on Educational Properties, a Class H Felony punishable by 10 years in prison.

This was the third school threat investigation since last week.

They investigated threats on January 18 that went out over Instagram and another treat on Friday that was via word of mouth at Bladenboro Middle School.

Deputies say the teens involved in those threats are 15-years-old and received Juvenile Petitions as well.