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ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) – Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and James Smith, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced Friday that an arrest has been made after bomb threats were made towards more than 150 school district, synagogues, hospitals, airports and a shopping mall from September 15-21, 2023.
The threats spanned multiple states, including New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Arizona, and Alaska, and resulted in massive disruptions to the targeted communities, including evacuations of thousands of schoolchildren, a lockdown of a hospital, and flight delays.
Eddie Manuel Nunez Santos, who’s also known as Lucas, was also charged with attempting to in coax a 15-year-old girl to send him nude and sexually explicit pictures. Officials say Nunez Santos, 33, is a Peruvian national who resides in Lima, Peru. Nunez Santos sent the bomb threats in retaliation against her and other minors after they refused his requests for child pornography.
Peruvian authorities in Lima, Peru, arrested Nunez Santos on Tuesday, September 26.
The FBI began receiving reports of bomb threats, sent primarily via email or online contact forms, to institutions located across New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Alaska, and Arizona on September 15. Through its investigation, including the examination of email, phone, and Internet Protocol address data, the FBI was able to determine that Nunez Santos was responsible for sending the threats. The threats all contained substantially similar content and targeted schools, synagogues, airports, hospitals, and a shopping mall.
Authorities say Nunez Santos sent the following threat by email to a synagogue in Westchester County on September 17:
“I placed multiple bombs inside the Jewish Center. The bombs I placed in the building will blow up in a few hours. Many people will lay in a pool of blood.“
As another example, Nunez Santos sent emails containing the following threats to approximately 24 school districts in Pennsylvania on September 20:
“I placed multiple bombs in all of the schools from your School Districts. The bombs will blow up in a few hours. I’ll gladly smile when your families are crying because of your deaths.“
In total, from September 15-21, the FBI received reports of over 150 such threats, all containing substantially similar language.
“These threats triggered emergency law enforcement responses and resulted in significant disruptions to the targeted institutions and areas,” authorities said.
As a result of just one of Nunez Santos’ bomb threats, sent on September 19, more than 1,100 schoolchildren across approximately 20 different schools were evacuated in Pennsylvania.
“Many of the bomb threats also included references to particular phone numbers or a particular IP address and a directive for the targeted institutions receiving the threats to contact those numbers or that IP address,” authorities said. “The FBI determined that those phone numbers and IP address were used by certain minor females, including a 17-year-old girl residing in Pennsylvania, a 13-year-old girl residing in Pennsylvania, and a 15-year-old girl residing in New York.”
Each of those girls had engaged in online communications with Nunez Santos, who used the alias “Lucas” and represented himself to be 15 years old. In those communications, Nunez Santos repeatedly asked at least two of the girls to send him nude pictures of themselves. When the girls refused his requests or cut off communications with him, Nunez Santos threatened to bomb their schools or kill them, and he sent the aforementioned bomb threats to schools in their areas with directives for the targeted institutions to contact the girls.
Nunez Santos is charged with (i) transmitting threatening interstate communications, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; (ii) conveying false information and hoaxes, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; (iii) attempting to sexually exploit a child, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison; (iv) attempting to coerce and entice a minor, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison; and (v) attempting to receive child pornography, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The mandatory minimum and maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant would be determined by a judge.
Williams praised the outstanding efforts of the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which consists of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the New York City Police Department, and over 50 other federal, state, and local agencies.
Williams also thanked the FBI’s New York (Westchester Resident Agency), Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Sacramento, Anchorage, Phoenix, New Haven, Buffalo, and Albany Field Offices; the FBI’s Legal Attaché office in Peru; the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Counterterrorism Section; the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs; and Peruvian law enforcement authorities for their assistance.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams released the following statement:
“As alleged, the defendant’s relentless campaign of false bomb threats caused an immediate mobilization by federal and state authorities, diverting critical law enforcement and public safety resources, and caused fear in hundreds of communities across this country. The defendant allegedly engaged in this reprehensible and socially destructive conduct in a twisted attempt to retaliate against teenage girls who refused his requests for nude and sexually explicit photographs. The charges unsealed today show that those who engage in such conduct, wreaking havoc on our communities, will not find safe haven merely because they do it from outside our borders. Working together with our law enforcement partners, we will find you, and we will prosecute you.”
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) – Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and James Smith, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced Friday that an arrest has been made after bomb threats were made towards more than 150 school district, synagogues, hospitals, airports and a shopping mall from September 15-21, 2023.
The threats spanned multiple states, including New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Arizona, and Alaska, and resulted in massive disruptions to the targeted communities, including evacuations of thousands of schoolchildren, a lockdown of a hospital, and flight delays.
Eddie Manuel Nunez Santos, who’s also known as Lucas, was also charged with attempting to in coax a 15-year-old girl to send him nude and sexually explicit pictures. Officials say Nunez Santos, 33, is a Peruvian national who resides in Lima, Peru. Nunez Santos sent the bomb threats in retaliation against her and other minors after they refused his requests for child pornography.
Peruvian authorities in Lima, Peru, arrested Nunez Santos on Tuesday, September 26.
The FBI began receiving reports of bomb threats, sent primarily via email or online contact forms, to institutions located across New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Alaska, and Arizona on September 15. Through its investigation, including the examination of email, phone, and Internet Protocol address data, the FBI was able to determine that Nunez Santos was responsible for sending the threats. The threats all contained substantially similar content and targeted schools, synagogues, airports, hospitals, and a shopping mall.
Authorities say Nunez Santos sent the following threat by email to a synagogue in Westchester County on September 17:
“I placed multiple bombs inside the Jewish Center. The bombs I placed in the building will blow up in a few hours. Many people will lay in a pool of blood.”
As another example, Nunez Santos sent emails containing the following threats to approximately 24 school districts in Pennsylvania on September 20:
“I placed multiple bombs in all of the schools from your School Districts. The bombs will blow up in a few hours. I’ll gladly smile when your families are crying because of your deaths.”
In total, from September 15-21, the FBI received reports of over 150 such threats, all containing substantially similar language.
“These threats triggered emergency law enforcement responses and resulted in significant disruptions to the targeted institutions and areas,” authorities said.
As a result of just one of Nunez Santos’ bomb threats, sent on September 19, more than 1,100 schoolchildren across approximately 20 different schools were evacuated in Pennsylvania.
“Many of the bomb threats also included references to particular phone numbers or a particular IP address and a directive for the targeted institutions receiving the threats to contact those numbers or that IP address,” authorities said. “The FBI determined that those phone numbers and IP address were used by certain minor females, including a 17-year-old girl residing in Pennsylvania, a 13-year-old girl residing in Pennsylvania, and a 15-year-old girl residing in New York.”
Each of those girls had engaged in online communications with Nunez Santos, who used the alias “Lucas” and represented himself to be 15 years old. In those communications, Nunez Santos repeatedly asked at least two of the girls to send him nude pictures of themselves. When the girls refused his requests or cut off communications with him, Nunez Santos threatened to bomb their schools or kill them, and he sent the aforementioned bomb threats to schools in their areas with directives for the targeted institutions to contact the girls.
Nunez Santos is charged with (i) transmitting threatening interstate communications, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; (ii) conveying false information and hoaxes, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; (iii) attempting to sexually exploit a child, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison; (iv) attempting to coerce and entice a minor, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison; and (v) attempting to receive child pornography, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The mandatory minimum and maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant would be determined by a judge.
Williams praised the outstanding efforts of the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which consists of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the New York City Police Department, and over 50 other federal, state, and local agencies.
Williams also thanked the FBI’s New York (Westchester Resident Agency), Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Sacramento, Anchorage, Phoenix, New Haven, Buffalo, and Albany Field Offices; the FBI’s Legal Attaché office in Peru; the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Counterterrorism Section; the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs; and Peruvian law enforcement authorities for their assistance.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams released the following statement:
“As alleged, the defendant’s relentless campaign of false bomb threats caused an immediate mobilization by federal and state authorities, diverting critical law enforcement and public safety resources, and caused fear in hundreds of communities across this country. The defendant allegedly engaged in this reprehensible and socially destructive conduct in a twisted attempt to retaliate against teenage girls who refused his requests for nude and sexually explicit photographs. The charges unsealed today show that those who engage in such conduct, wreaking havoc on our communities, will not find safe haven merely because they do it from outside our borders. Working together with our law enforcement partners, we will find you, and we will prosecute you.” Read More NewsRochesterFirst
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