Arrest made in bomb threat
Authorities arrested a man Wednesday accused of calling in a bomb threat to LSU earlier this week but would not release the motive for the scare that caused a university-wide evacuation.
LSU Police Capt. Cory Lalonde said the threat made Monday by William Bouvay Jr., 42, 8224 Skysail Ave., was isolated to LSU and had nothing to do with bomb threats made last week at the University of Texas and North Dakota State University.
And, as far as investigators know, Bouvay does not have any relatives or a close relationship with others who work or attend LSU, Lalonde said.
Bouvay is not a student at the university, he added.
Authorities know why Bouvay made the bomb threat but declined to disclose those reasons, Lalonde said, adding he did not want to compromise the state’s case.
District Attorney Hillar Moore III also said at a Wednesday news conference he was not going to release any information about Bouvay’s motive, beyond saying the bomb scare “is not a national security issue.”
According to an affidavit of probable cause, Bouvay called in the bomb threat to LSU at 10:32 a.m. The university’s emergency text ordering students and staff to evacuate went out an hour later at 11:30 a.m.
Authorities didn’t send out the text sooner because they had to gather and evaluate information about the threat, Lalonde said.
Some of that information indicated authorities had some time before the alleged bombs were detonated, he said.
According to the affidavit, Bouvay told a 911 dispatcher, “Yes, I planted three bombs at LSU’s campus. My colleagues planted three bombs at LSU to go off in two hours if my …” The caller did not finish that sentence.
“This is not a joke. I’m gonna go there and …” the caller said before the call was disconnected.
Authorities traced the number, using GPS technology, to a deactivated cellphone that could only be used for emergency calls, Lalonde said. The phone was found at Bouvay’s Skysail residence near Gardere Lane.
Bouvay admitted to authorities he called in the bomb threat and was booked into Parish Prison on a count of communication of false information of a planned bombing on school property, a felony that carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence.
Bouvay also could be booked on a count of terrorizing, Moore said, which carries a maximum 15-year prison sentence, and U.S. Attorney Donald J. Cazayoux is working with him to determine whether any federal laws were violated.
Bouvay’s bail was set for $1 million.
According to East Baton Rouge Parish clerk of court records, Bouvay was on probation at the time of his arrest in the bomb threat incident.
Bouvay was sentenced to 18 months of supervision after pleading guilty in 2009 to a domestic abuse/battery charge, the records show.
Five years earlier, Bouvay pleaded guilty to a charge of improper phone communication and was sentenced to 60 days of probation.
In that incident, Bouvay repeatedly called his former girlfriend, who worked at LSU in the continuing education and independent studies department, an affidavit of probable cause said.
During some of the phone conversations, Bouvay threatened to come up to the university and shoot the woman and her co-workers, the affidavit said.
Lalonde said the 2004 arrest is not connected to this week’s bomb threat.
Although there was mention of “colleagues” in the bomb threat call, authorities have no reason to believe others were involved in the bomb threat, Lalonde said.
“We do not anticipate any further arrests,” he said.
Bouvay’s next-door neighbor, Jeremy Williams, said he was home when authorities arrested Bouvay and they initially questioned him and his family about the bomb threat.
“Everyone around here loves LSU,” Williams said. “I don’t know why anyone would want to blow the place up.”
Williams said he and his family have lived near Bouvay for three or four years and they’ve never had any problems with him.