A dual American-Israeli citizen suspected of being behind a wave of phoned-in bomb threats to Jewish Community Centers (JCC) across North America was arrested on Thursday following an international investigation coordinated by Israel, law enforcement officials said.
While few details are currently available about the unnamed 19-year-old suspect or his motives, he is known to be a resident of Ashkelon who possibly has psychological problems, The Jerusalem Post reported. He does not serve in the Israeli military, is not ultra-Orthodox, and is believed to have few friends.
The case was opened six months ago after Israeli investigators flagged a threat made to a New Zealand organization. Israel served as the lead coordinator in the probe, in which a number of other countries also participated.
Police searched the suspect’s residence on Thursday and detained his father, who is being questioned by authorities on his knowledge of his son’s activities.
According to his lawyer, the suspect has been suffering from a brain tumor since the age of 14, which affects his behavior and led him to be home-schooled, Ynet reported. The lawyer requested that the suspect be placed under supervision, indicating that he might try to harm himself. The suspect reportedly tried to grab a policewoman’s gun and harm himself at the time of his arrest, but was stopped.
The suspect is believed to have been the main participant in the threats and to have operated on his own. He is said to have employed complex procedures to shield his identity, and perpetrated the threats using advanced equipment, including a large antenna and other hardware.
“This is one of the numerous ongoing police operations that take place with other international security and intelligence organizations in order to try to find suspects,” Police Spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld told the Post. “This specific investigation was complex in terms of the suspect and its nature and there was a significant breakthrough in the investigation which led us to make the arrest of the suspect who lives in Southern Israel.”
Rosenfeld described the teenager as the “main suspect,” adding that investigators were looking to his ties in the United States and trying to determine his motives.
Police & FBI investigation arrest Israeli age 19 suspected of making threats to Jewish organizations, communities & JCC bomb threats in US.
— Micky Rosenfeld (@MickyRosenfeld) March 23, 2017
While Israel intends to indict the suspect, he may be subject to extradition as he threatened institutions in the U.S., Europe, Australia, and New Zealand over a six month period.
The first wave of threats against North American JCCs occurred in January; a sixth wave occurred two weeks ago. Earlier this month, a suspect, Juan Thompson, was arrested in St. Louis for allegedly making eight of the threats in an attempt to harass a former girlfriend.
[Photo: The Tennessean / YouTube ]