Provo man charged with making bomb threats at elementary school, apartment

A Provo man was charged Monday with making threats at an elementary school and then threatening to blow up his apartment.

A Provo man was charged Monday with making threats at an elementary school and then threatening to blow up his apartment. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)


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PROVO — A Provo man was charged Monday with making a bomb threat at a local elementary school.

Robert Aaron Prina, 46, is charged in 4th District Court with making a threat of terrorism and falsely reporting a weapon of mass destruction to police, second-degree felonies.

On Thursday, Prina walked into Timpanogos Elementary School, 449 N. 500 West in Provo, and left a note that stated, "Maybe a school shooter or maybe a school bomber coming need to tell all teachers may need real evacuation maybe need to get news," according to charging documents.

Provo police were called and were able to identify Prina using surveillance video and witness statements. Officers then went to the Boulders Apartments, 750 S. 650 West, where Prina lives, to talk to him. When police arrive, however, Prina "is agitated and refuses to come out. (He) hits the inside of the door and states that he will blow up the apartment," the charges state.

Prina also said "he was a suicide bomber. Robert kept yelling that he was going to blow the complex up and started to count down from 30 seconds," according to a police booking affidavit.

Because of the threats, the apartment complex was evacuated and SWAT team and bomb squad were called to the scene. A negotiator was able to eventually get Prina to come out of his apartment and he was arrested without further incident.

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Pat Reavy is a longtime police and courts reporter. He joined the KSL.com team in 2021, after many years of reporting at the Deseret News and KSL NewsRadio before that.

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