After four bomb threats and three evacuations at an Augusta Wal-Mart, police tracked down their "man": a fourth-grader at Barton Chapel Elementary School.
The 11-year-old boy, who is accused of disrupting the store on Deans Bridge Road with repeated bomb threats, may have been upset after store managers moved his mother from a day shift to a night shift, Richmond County Sheriff's Maj. Ken Autry said.
The boy got the idea from a school library book, the major said. Police traced his final call.
Police say the suspect - who weighs about 70 pounds and is less than 4 feet tall - was brought in by his mother for questioning.
"He looked like a 6-year-old," Maj. Autry said. "He didn't look like your typical person for making bomb threats."
But the boy caused a stir each time he dialed up his mom's workplace and warned of a bomb. Three of the four calls over the past week resulted in the evacuation of employees and customers.
Wal-Mart spokesman Ian DeZalia said the evacuations were a major inconvenience. As for the age of the suspect: "It's sad."
The boy is so soft-spoken, he sounded like a woman to one employee, police said.
Authorities have reported the boy to juvenile authorities, but he is too young to be charged with a crime.
"He's the youngest one I can remember," Maj. Autry said.
Reach Greg Rickabaugh at (706) 828-3851 or greg.rickabaugh@augustachronicle.com.
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