Police in Kansas Thursday afternoon arrested 30 year old Johnny Baldwin who called the Orange Police Department and made a threat to local schools.
Orange Detective Captain Enmon said the threat, that proved to be false because of the distance, “worked out to be a fantastic drill.”
Two detectives recognized the man’s voice on the phone because of previous encounters and knew he had mental problems. Enmon said OPD immediately contacted the other law enforcement agencies in Orange County.
OPD sent an officer to each public school within the city of Orange, which is their jurisdiction.
“Parents should take comfort that these threats are taken seriously,” he said.
Enmon came to KOGT radio Friday morning and his interview about the threat and response was broadcast live.
He said the officer sent to Little Cypress Elementary School, which is still using North Orange Baptist Church because of Harvey damage, saw that the children and teachers were together for a speaker. The officer gathered people not in the assembly to keep everyone in the same room as a precaution.
Enmon said at no time was a lock-down called. Parents will be notified anytime a school is put on lockdown, he said.
The threat was made about 1 p.m. Thursday with a call to OPD dispatchers. In the first call, the man said “you know what happened in Florida” and talked briefly about problems he had had with bullying. He called again and made reference to some problems in Orange.
Enmon said after detectives recognized the voice, they tried to find the man. A friend of the man said he had “jumped on a rail car” and left town two days earlier.
OPD tracked him to a small town in Kansas where he had previously lived. Enmon said police there were familiar with the man. They found him and arrested him because Kansas has a law that allows police to charge someone who has made a threat in another state.
Enmon said Texas does not have a similar law, but detectives here were working on getting a local warrant or mental commitment to take the man into custody.
The detective said he plans to call a meeting next week between county school superintendents and law agencies to go over what happened and how response can be improved. For instance, he said he wants to create a group text with school superintendents.
-Margaret Toal, KOGT-
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