A 15-year-old Morgan Hill teen wrote “bomb” on an empty package that he placed on a public transit bus in San Jose, prompting an evacuation, road closures and a Santa Clara County Bomb Squad investigation.
The suspicious package was reported Wednesday on a Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority bus in the area of Monterey Highway and Capitol Expressway in San Jose, according to Santa Clara County sheriff’s Sgt. Jose Cardoza.
The sheriff’s bomb squad investigators used X-ray equipment to determine that the suspicious package was empty and did not contain any explosive devices, but not before the bus was evacuated and nearby roads were blocked off as a precaution, Cardoza said.
Investigators continued to follow up on the case Thursday, when they identified a possible suspect who was responsible for placing the package on the bus, Cardoza said.
The investigators determined the suspect was a 15-year-old teen from Morgan Hill, Cardoza said. The teen was contacted and interviewed by authorities, and he admitted to placing the package on the VTA bus and writing the word “bomb” on the package.
The suspect was cited for reporting a false bomb or explosive device, a misdemeanor, and was released to his parents, Cardoza said.
