Arias Bomb Threat Leads to Arrest of Teen
A man has been arrested in Arizona after tweeting a bomb threat immediately following the reading of Jodi Arias' guilty verdict. Laquint Cherry, 18, was taken into custody and faces a felony charge for making threats.
Arias was found guilty of murder in the first-degree, making her eligible for life behind bars or the death penalty. While crowds gathered outside the courtroom cheered the news, there were those who were quite upset. Cherry was apparently one of those and decided to take action.
Cherry tweeted that an explosive device was going to be placed in the courtroom and would detonate sometime on Thursday.
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"Planted some IEDs in the #jodiarias Superior Court room in Phoenix Arizona tomorrow I'll become a HERO and also shot by pigs once I unload," Cherry reportedly tweeted.
Once the sheriff's office learned of the tweet, they increased security at the courthouse and conducted numerous bomb sweeps but came up empty-handed.
Police then traced the tweet back to Cherry and managed to locate him at a hotel in west Phoenix. The bomb squad and SWAT team worked together at the hotel and reportedly found ammunition in the room but no bomb making materials. Cherry was arrested for making threats, and a female companion was questioned and released.
"This morning we surrounded the hotel; he didn't want to come out. In fact, we made a call, he said he wasn't coming out, he said he was going to shoot the cops," Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio told the press. "One thing I'm concerned about: Is he a lone ranger? Or is there someone else around here that has bombs or anything else. We don't know."
Cherry had also posted several other tweets that concerned authorities.
"Follow me so I can be on CNN and kill people," read one. "I'm curious as to where the #BostonBombing suspects or anyone would obtain the explosives? Because I'd like to buy some," Cherry posted.
He is currently being held by authorities.
