Ottawa County man arrested after bomb threats made to school, bank in Miami, OK

Bobby Harris, 24, of Miami, was in custody on complaints of misusing a 911 system, making a terrorist threat and extortion from a lending institution.

Haralson said about 500 students were evacuated to a nearby church about a block away from the school after police received the bomb threat about 11 a.m.

While police were searching the high school, the Miami-based Welch State Bank officials reported they received a threat from someone saying in exchange for a large sum of money he would not blow up Miami High School, Haralson said.

“The first phone call was made from a cellphone, which was found with a backpack near Welch State Bank,” Haralson said.

The second threat was made from a Walmart payphone, he said.

“We knew the bomb threat was a hoax, but proceeded to search the school with bomb dogs from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and the Tulsa Police Department,” Haralson said.

Law enforcement officers used the bogus bomb threat as a training exercise, he said.