Suspect in Nampa bomb, Sarin gas threat has prior conviction for school bomb threats
The 22-year-old man who made a bomb threat in Nampa last week has a history of calling bomb threats into Idaho schools.
Police arrested Grant Stevenson, of Nampa, on Thursday after his threats shut down the neighborhood near Constitution Way and Juniper Street for about six hours.
In 2013, Stevenson was arrested for making bomb threats to Skyview High School, Caldwell High and Kuna High School, according to his probable cause affidavit from police.
Stevenson remains in custody at the Canyon County Jail with bond set at $2 million. He is charged on suspicion of felony terrorism and felony use of a weapon of mass destruction, as well as two misdemeanors for use of a telephone to harass, annoy, intimidate or threaten. He is accused of making threats with sarin gas, an extremely toxic compound.
The neighborhood lockdown that Stevenson allegedly triggered last week began when Nampa Police received a Facebook message about threats at an apartment building. The message said the apartments “have a bomb planted in one of many units” and the bomb contains “deadly Sarin gas” that he threatened to detonate within one hour, according to the affidavit.
“We also have several (deterrents) in place including five car bombs,” the message said. The message stated “we” want to watch as this bomb “levels everything in (a) 400 yard radius” and carry a deadly agent across Nampa and into the Treasure Valley.
The message went on to say “death to America” and claimed the Sarin gas was imported from Syria. Sarin gas is used in chemical warfare. The last message read “the calphite [sic] will prevail,” according to the probable cause affidavit. A caliphate is an Islamic state.
Stevenson’s misdemeanor charges stem from Facebook messages he sent to a woman threatening to have her boyfriend killed and threatening to come to to her apartment to “make love” saying “please don’t make me rape u.” He’s accused of sending photos of a person sitting in a car with a gun in his lap as a threat. He also allegedly sent a similar threatening message to her boyfriend.
Detectives seized Stevenson’s phone and found his Google search history included searches for pipe bombs, car bombs and suitcase bombs as well as Google image searches for “pistol in my lap.” They found the image that Stevenson is accused of sending as a threat.
According to a probable cause affidavit, police say Stevenson was arrested in 2013 for making a string of bomb threats in Boise, Caldwell, Kuna and Twin Falls. He was incarcerated in St. Anthony, Idaho, as a juvenile for falsely reporting explosives in public places.
He was not on probation or parole at the time of his Thursday arrest.
His next court appearance is set for 8:30 a.m. March 21.
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