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15-year-old charged after Waltham bomb threat

A 15-year-old student at the Kennedy Middle School in Waltham is facing charges after hundreds of students were evacuated from the school early Friday morning due to a bomb threat, Waltham authorities said.

The student allegedly gave a note to a teacher about 8:15 a.m. that said there were bombs in the school set to go off and told the teacher that he found the paper in the hallway, said Detective Sergeant Joe Guigno of the Waltham Police Department.

The school was evacuated while State Police and Waltham’s Fire and Police departments swept the school for signs of bombs, said Fire Chief Paul Ciccone.

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After authorities interviewed the student who turned in the note, he allegedly told them that he had written it.

“The student said there was no bombs or anything in the school, that it was a hoax,” Guigno said.

The student, whose name is not being released, faces charges of disturbance of a school assembly and falsely reporting a weapon capable of causing damage.

He will appear in Waltham District Court’s juvenile division and will face discipline by the school, Guigno said.

Students were taken to the nearby Waltham High School for lunch about 11 a.m. and were then taken back to Kennedy Middle School, which had been cleared for their return, authorities said.

The bomb threat also comes after Kennedy Middle School teachers found a student with a “kill list” with the names of three students in December.

Mayor Jeannette McCarthy of Waltham did not specify whether that student received or is facing disciplinary action, but she did say that school officials would act within school handbook guidelines and state law.

Guigno said the two incidents are not thought to be related.


Jaclyn Reiss can be reached at jaclyn.reiss@globe.com.