Thursday, November 19, 2009
Botetourt police release images of school threat suspect


Police say the bomb threat calls originated from a pay phone at the Unimart on Jamison Avenue in Southeast Roanoke. The above images of the suspect are from a security video camera near the store.
Related
From today's paper
The two calls -- which warned of a bomb in the elementary school and referenced a non-specific danger at James River -- came around 11 a.m. from a pay phone at the Unimart on Jamison Avenue in Southeast Roanoke, according to Botetourt County Sheriff Ronnie Sprinkle.
Thursday the sheriff's office released images taken by a security camera near the Jamison Avenue phone at the time the calls were placed. The pictures were recorded by a motion-activated camera and show a male figure walking across a parking lot, toward the pay phone, at 11:05 a.m. He then heads back in the opposite direction at 11:10 a.m. The camera stops recording before the subject disappears from the frame and it remains unclear how he left the scene.
The person is wearing what appears to be dark overalls and has either a white sweatshirt hood or white stocking cap covering most of his head.
More than 600 students were affected by the threats Wednesday and authorities from Botetourt and Roanoke counties and the Virginia State Police worked for three hours searching the schools before determining that there was no danger.
Anyone with information about this incident or the person in the security footage is asked to call the Botetourt County Sheriff's Office at 473-8230.




