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Police have man in custody believed to be responsible for bomb threats
Lawrence police now have a 47-year-old man in custody who they think is responsible for the phone calls that led to today's heightened state of emergency. Enlarge video
Superintendent Randy Weseman on schools' responses
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Lawrence police said they tracked Thursday's early-morning bomb threats to phone calls from a Lawrence resident, 47-year-old Michael E. Parker.
They arrested him in the afternoon after questioning him and serving a search warrant at his home at 1202 N.Y., where they found a wireless phone believed to have been used to make the calls. No evidence of explosives was found.
City Manager David Corliss said Thursday night that city officials were investigating whether the bomb scare was linked to the city's recent denial of an insurance claim from a man with the same name as Parker. But Corliss said he didn't know enough details of the claim to say whether they were conclusively linked.
"We're still trying to check all of that," Corliss said. "We've given some records to the police department. : City staff is reviewing a claim from a Mr. Parker that we had previously denied, on a claim for an alleged injury on a city sidewalk."
Police Capt. David Cobb said he couldn't discuss the suspected motive, but that police didn't think it was linked to the Virginia Tech shootings.
"We have no indication that this was a copycat situation," Cobb said. "We have an educated guess (about motive) that we will pass on to the district attorney's office."
According to court records, Parker has a paralyzed right hand and suffered a work injury in 2005. His recent criminal cases include a January 2006 no-contest plea to second-time DUI and a 2003 aggravated battery case in which a jury found him not guilty.
Parker's neighbors said Thursday that he enjoyed cooking, being outdoors and listening to oldies on the radio.
They also said he spoke openly at times about his disputes with the city.
"He told me he had a suit against the city for that church that the bricks were falling off of, that he walked by there and some of the bricks hit him," said Diane Lagrone, who lives below Parker.
She said if Parker did call in the threats, she couldn't understand what his motivation could have been.
"He shouldn't be doing immature, childish things like that," she said. "He's a grown man, and I don't understand why a grown man would do a thing like that."
Police arrested Parker for three counts of making an aggravated criminal threat. The law covers bomb threats that result in the evacuation of a public building, and the severity level of the crime depends on the loss of productivity from the evacuation.
At the lowest extreme, a threat resulting in less than $500 of lost productivity is a Level 6 felony, with a maximum punishment of 46 months in prison per count. If the threat results in $25,000 or more in lost productivity, the punishment can be up to 172 months per count. Sentences also depend on the person's criminal history.
Police initially said Thursday morning that someone had made a series of three or four bomb threats to 911 dispatchers.
Later in the day, police cited just two specific calls they believed were linked to Parker: a hang-up call around 5 a.m., and a call at 6:46 a.m. in which a male voice told dispatchers there was a bomb at a school and at City Hall. The caller didn't say what city or what school he was referring to, police said.
Lawrence police began investigating and started notifying schools. Broken Arrow School Principal Brian McCaffrey said he first learned of the situation after the school's 8 a.m. start.
County system struggles to track source of 911 call
Despite the county's enhanced 911 system that's capable of giving the location of wireless emergency calls, police said they had difficulty Thursday tracking the location of the bomb threat calls.
Normally, if someone calls from a cell phone, Douglas County's system is able to access data from a chip inside the phone within seconds and translate it into latitude and longitude coordinates.
But that wasn't the case Thursday.
Lawrence police Capt. David Cobb said the phone believed to have been used to make the threats was only equipped to dial 911 calls. That's either because the phone's service had expired or because it was a prepaid phone that had run out of minutes, he said.
Jim Denney, Douglas County's emergency communications director, said that when a phone is no longer in service - and is only equipped to dial 911 - phone companies are required to continue providing the computer function that can help dispatchers track the phone.
"Whether they do or not is a whole different story," Denney said.
Also, if a call is short - such as a 911 hang-up, which police believe the suspect made around 5 a.m. - dispatchers may not have time to mine the information from the phone.
So if police weren't able to track the phone by its coordinates, how did they find the suspect? Cobb declined to comment on that Thursday.
Bomb threat
- Threats rattle schools (04-20-07)
- Shootings have tensions high (04-20-07)
- Schools go into semi-lockdown mode (04-20-07)
- Message warns students at Perry-Lecompton not to attend class today (04-20-07)
- Private schools follow similar procedures (04-20-07)
- Municipal offices on heightened awareness (04-20-07)
- Chatabout the school response to threats with Lawrence Supt. Randy Weseman(04-19-07)
- 6News Video: Parents worried for children's safety during lock-down (04-19-07)
- 6News Video: Area school districts responded to threat as well (04-19-07)
- 6News Video: Perry-Lecompton school district remains on high alert (04-19-07)
Comments
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lee_go_hawks (anonymous) says…
We pulled our kids out of school yesterday. I hope they prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law. Calling in a threat like this is an act of terrorism. And should be treated as such.
KLATTU (anonymous) says…
Every parent who had to leave work to get their kids, and every employer who had employees that had to leave work should make sure the district attorney knows about it. Channel 6 was reporting 3000 students pulled out of school. That's a lot of lost productivity.
bodacious_b (anonymous) says…
Innocent until proven guilty. Knowing LPD, they found the first indigent minority with a case against the city and pinned the threat on him. I'm sure they'll be banging on my door next, once they get to Rodriguez on their list of complaints against the city or PD.
bodacious_b (anonymous) says…
Oh, additionally, only in a town as backwards as Lawrence do they lock the students IN the schools potentially containing explosives.
consumer1 (anonymous) says…
bodacious_b
You have some serious insecurities. and twisted logic.
unbelieveable that you would even try to blame the police. Unbelieveable.
napoleon969 (anonymous) says…
Wait a minute. Can this be right? A Lawrence resident? Surely this is a guy from Topeka pretending to be from Lawrence!
OldEnuf2BYurDad (anonymous) says…
When they assess the cost of "lost productivity", will that include the lost productivity of all the parents who left work to go get their children?
aeroscout17 (anonymous) says…
bodacious, that is pretty much SOP after the school shootings in Jonesboro, AR. If someone wants to create chaos, they get the school evacuated either by bomb threat or pulling the fire alarm. They then sit hidden outside and pick them off as they leave.
Better to isolate the student in safe place while the threat is being investigated.
Coach_Eric (anonymous) says…
And how do we assess the knee-jerk reaction of the parents who flew off the handle, taught their kids fear and contributed every bit as much (occupying the prescious time of school administrators) to the lost productivity at the schools?
Sorry, but these parents who scream "bloody murder!" and yanked their kids out of school really irritate me.
Of course, if the Royals had been in town, and they had a day game, well, my son (as yet unborn) would have been pulled!
msshaden (anonymous) says…
Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, I found this posted on Channel 9's web page. It sickens me that some people want to find fame because of someone else's twisted mind. www.thekansascitychannel.com/news/125...
OldEnuf2BYurDad (anonymous) says…
"knee-jerk reaction"?
Bad post, Coach. It wasn't a "water balloon attack" threat, it was a BOMB threat. Today is the anniversary of Columbine. Kids shooting up their schools was unheard of before Columbine. After Columbine, we had a rash of school shootings. There will be a series of school-related violent acts after what this guy at VT did. This bomb threat could have been someone's sick attempt to be immortalized as a badass.
"knee-jerk reaction" is not a fair assessment of the responses of these parents.
Royals (anonymous) says…
Go Royals!
irnmadn88 (anonymous) says…
Bomb threats!?! Growing up, my school had bomb threat evacuations more often than fire drills. This was at a DoDDS school overseas in the days of the cold war and the Baader-Meinhof Gang, the Red Army Faction, and the massive truck bombings in Beirut. Heck, even Ramstein AFB had a car bomb explosion. I never heard of parents coming to pick up their kids.
Times have changed...
GardenMomma (anonymous) says…
And that's why the 21 year old R.A. who was a month away from graduation with a triple major was gunned down as he ran to help the first victim in the residence hall??? Because he was raised on Barney and Tele Tubbies? I think not.
Coach_Eric (anonymous) says…
In hindsight OldEnuf, you're probably right. I'm only stating my opinion, and I certainly respect that of others. However, my initial reaction (that this was nothing more than a hoax) was proven correct in the long run. And being a Colorado native, I'm keenly aware of the anniversary of Columbine and the lasting impact that terrible tradedy left.
I do not however see any connection between that tragedy and this "threat" though. I think that the ability to reasonably think through this particular local situation and assess all available options is what I perceive (from the many comments left on this and other stories) is lacking from some people's actions. I can tell you that the parents who barge into schools demanding to speak with the principal or text their kids to leave school are doing a disservice to the rest of the school. Occupying the time of school administrators (who I would much rather stay in touch with local authorities than explain their actions, redundantly, to many upset parents) and creating another disruptive situation is a knee-jerk reaction. I stand by that statement. Not all parents did this of course, and my sweeping condemnations were short-sighted. None the less, the parents who flew into hysterics at the very mention of a bomb are the ones I feel should be scolded.
Certainly I am happy that this proved to be nothing more than a hoax. But I also firmly believe, as another article points out, that people's actions are speckled with fear and paranoia from recent events and anniversaries.
My only regret in posting initially is that I did not accurately convey my thoughts on this series of events (and I'm still not sure I've done so).
hanni213 (anonymous) says…
Pretty scary reading these comments and realizing that there are a number of people who have already convicted this guy. We don't know if he is guilty until the court decides he is. We don't even know what lead the police to Mr. Parker's home. Let us wait and see, if he really did it. If he is innocent a story like this can haunt him for the rest of his life.
leadrain (anonymous) says…
I found out this cat got arrested yesterday, people in da hood said his home was " swarmed " in the AM. I know Parker, don't let the PoPo and the paper cast an unfair shadow over this man. He may be a little " loose " but let the man have his day in court. We were all put-out having to leave work, maybe the lady who smelled GAS at the courthouse should be taken in, did her ignorance NOT cause a loss in productivity? I don't have too much faith in the Douglass County Court system, but they sure as hell don't hang the man before the trial. Try to reserve judgement, trust me, more details are coming. I'll likely be posting again tomorrow cuz LJW won't let us forget anything.
leadrain (anonymous) says…
hanni213:
Thank you, you were reading my mind as I was typing. Good to know we're not alone.
sunshine_noise (anonymous) says…
(Suggest removal)
bodacious_b - if Lawrence is that bad then move out of it. I don't think it was a racial issue. They guy was proven to have made the calls by his cell phone - obviously enough I should think. I don't think his cell phone has a particular race attached to it. It just so happen this man own it. You need to talk to someone and learn not to be so cyncial about everything and start looking at the positive in life. There are a lot of positive here in Lawrence, inspite of some problems.
Jace (anonymous) says…
Well, anyone who uses their own phone to call in a bomb threat.......can't be too bright, that's for sure!
Confrontation (anonymous) says…
If you really want to know who we should be worried about, then look here:
http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/e...
people_are_people (anonymous) says…
There's certainly a good chance that Parker's guilty. If he is guilty, then he's created much distress for many citizens of Lawrence. That's clearly unfortunate.
However, I find it equally distressing that several on this post have negative and cynical reactions to the worries and distrust that minorities have for whites (including police). In U.S. history, whites generally haven't been enslaved, lynched, or denied basic resources to live (jobs, housing). Of course, there certainly will be some who say, "That's history!" Of course, it's easy to criticize when one's own life is arguably more privileged.
Moreover, I have to wonder how many racist-sounding claims of Parker's stupidity, craziness, and poverty we would have if the suspect was a white person. It could be that having a black person commit a crime provides people with another chance to express their prejudices toward minorities.
bodacious_b (anonymous) says…
It surprises me how quickly ideas formulate in aged minds and how sloppily they are expressed. If you wish to suggest a valuable comment, proofread, revise, and make sure you aren't making the wrong point and don't sound like a donkey.
At 18 years old, I think my mind is still vulnerably open to recognizing discrimination. Example: Over spring break I was detained for making a complaint about the service I received from a local pizza shop. Needless to say, every time I have been ripped off and/or unhappy with any food order since, I dared not to voice my dissatisfaction. I AM an indigent minority if only on the surface. I am a quota. I am anxious of where and when I will find my next meal and whether I'll be robbed of the change in my pocketbook or spending the night in hell. Yeah, it'd be so much easier to move, but I have to graduate high school first.
bodacious_b (anonymous) says…
Forgot--the race on my birth certificate says white, even though I've never been treated with such privelege.
I guess short term memory creates a plethoria of bodacious comments. This is definitely the last post though.
crazyks (anonymous) says…
I didn't know that the suspect was black until you just pointed it out, p_o_p...
You make a severe generalization about white people, and are perpetuating a stereotype yourself.
I myself am white. I grew up poor as dirt, and though my circumstances are better now, I am in no way "privileged". Nor do I consider myself as such. I never have.
I guess you never heard of indentured servants. What was that if it wasn't a form of slavery? Yeah, I suppose they had the hope of eventually paying off their debts and being free again...but few of them actually managed to do it.
People of all colors and cultures are denied jobs and places to live every day in this country. What is your point?
This was a horrible thing to do. It would still be a horrible thing if a white man had done it. So again, what is your point? He should be set free because he's black?
mommaeffortx2 (anonymous) says…
bodacious-b I get sh**y service in this town all the time that has nothing to do with race, just seems to be the standard.
But after reading the post above or posts maybe attitude comes in to play.
consumer1 (anonymous) says…
people_are_people
inredible, have you ever read history?
Just for one example look at the history of the Irish in early America, does the name "mick" ever cross your mind? Read a book...
Azure_Attitude (anonymous) says…
Bodacious, please save your ciriticisms for your own work, dear. After reasdin your post it is obvious that your grammar is flawed as well and you need to follow your own advice. Or, better idea: Why not learn at your early age to get over yourself! Life's too short to be lived as a pompous ass.
countrygirl (anonymous) says…
I don't care if he's purple! He made threats against children and he should be held accountable for that.
oldgoof (anonymous) says…
Maybe he was just calling for pizza extra early and kept mis-dialing.
Jace (anonymous) says…
Who brought up the subject of race?
snap_pop_no_crackle (anonymous) says…
"Posted by bodacious_b (anonymous) on April 20, 2007 at 6:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Innocent until proven guilty. Knowing LPD, they found the first indigent minority with a case against the city and pinned the threat on him..."
hanni213 (anonymous) says…
Certainly possible that LPD is mistaken, but I do not think they would intentionally arrest the wrong person. I have spent time in 26 of our 50 states, and have lived for extended period in 5 of them. The Lawrence police are some of the kindest that I have seen anywhere. How was this turned into a racial issue anyway?
whatintheworld (anonymous) says…
WOW!!
There are a lot of reason's race issues haven't been resolved and when some people (people are people) bring race into something like this that appears to be pardon the pun so black and white......YOU create problems.
I too didn't even know that this man was black. I am white and when I heard of VT I honestly thought that it was probably a white man.
You opened the whole "privileged" thing up. So here goes. I am white I work my butt off 60 hours a week and my husband works over 70 hours a week. Do we live well YES. Do we deserve it YES. Neither of our parents were wealthy, but we don't let that criple us. So don't say that we are privileged because we are WHITE! We have what we have because of hard WORK!!
In addition I have several black friends that have come from nothing and have worked their butts off to be very successful individuals. Not a one of them would agree with the way people are bringing race into this. People that make WACKO comments like this CAUSE more harm than good!!!
Bottom line.....it was his freakin' phone!!!!! Black or white it was a very crappy thing to do. To all of us, but especially to our children....who by the way are not all white!
Sigmund (anonymous) says…
"It doesn't matter to me whether it's Sunday or not," said Michael Parker, 42, Lawrence, after buying an 18-pack of beer while on his way to a barbecue. "It might cut down on the bootlegging, or going to Missouri, or going to a bar and ***risking a DUI*** while going home."
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2003/sep...
Apparently Sunday sales of alcohol did NOT prevent this LOSER's second DUI; "His recent criminal cases include a January 2006 no-contest plea to second-time DUI..."
people_are_people (anonymous) says…
1) A couple of people claimed that they didn't know Parker's race. That's interesting given the fairly obvious picture of Parker shown at the top of this page. 2) A couple of people cited me as anti-White and a rabble rouser for daring to say the word race and claim that minorities have a right to be distrustful. This is sad, given that such censorship and unwillingness to reflect on race relations is the antipathy of democracy. 3) A couple of people claimed that they deserved their privileges in life, however small. That's perhaps true, but this does not change the fact that majorities outperform majorities on many important life outcomes. Surely, you wouldn't claim this is because minorities are put in less effort or have less ability than majorities, so how would you explain such statistics? I don't for a second buy that minorities "let their situation cripple them." That's like saying a rapist is not guilty of rape because the victim asked for it. Likewise, telling a bedtime story about how fair society is doesn't help us to understand why majorities enjoy a mighty hefty share of the resources in society. 4) One person used the "my best friend is a minority and agrees with me defense." That might make one feel comforted, but there's a phenomenon called tokenism, wherein some people "break through the race barriers" and are held up as exemplars of the fairness of our system. A token is often someone who buys into the bedtime stories listed above. It's no wonder that they would agree with you. However, this tells us nothing about the causes of disparities, but that's not a problem when you're not the one on the bottom. 5) I'm glad that others mentioned the early Irish and indentured servitude. Those were indeed horrible things. Though I have to wonder if that's a convenient use of history for those who no longer seem to be filing lawsuits about discrimination, nor winning them in court. 6) Saying "people of all colors and cultures are denied jobs and places" is like saying that we might as well just turn our backs because the problem's not at our door. Our larger loyalties seem not to extend beyond our front step. 7) Parker should be held accountable, IF he is proven guilty. That was never the point, nor did I suggest that he should be free. We can't have people terrorizing citizens, especially children. Still, it seems like the people on this post are quite anxious to "vent" at someone, before due process is even completed. It's a shame that people in this listing sound like they could've been in a lynch mob in the past. I'd like to think that society is more civilized now, but I have to wonder sometimes. 8) Incidentally, it's interesting how people who don't agree with others are labeled wackos, criminals, stupid, asses, narcissists, morons, and other things. Thank goodness they did away with the pillory and other torture devices. It seems that even with democracy, human nature hasn't really changed that much.