Riverhead police: Islandia teen charged in new bomb threat at McGann-Mercy yesterday afternoon

Riverhead Police report the arrest of a 17-year-old Islandia boy in connection with a bomb threat made yesterday at McGann-Mercy High School in Riverhead.

Police said they arrested Michael Calandra yesterday and charged him with falsely reporting an incident in the second degree, a class E felony.

Officials at McGann-Mercy called the police department yesterday at 3:44 p.m. to report that a note was found on school property advising them of a bomb threat.

Suffolk County Police Department Emergency Services Unit was called to assist in the investigation. Police did not say whether students were on campus when the note was found or whether the buildings were evacuated.

A subsequent investigation by the Riverhead detective division lead to the arrest of Calandra, police said. He was taken into custody, processed and released on an appearance ticket for Riverhead Justice Court arraignment.

Police did not say whether they believe this incident is related to bomb threats at the Catholic diocesan junior-senior high school on Ostrander Avenue on Jan. 14, 15 and 30. Those threats were made by phone calls, according to Riverhead Police Chief David Hegermiller. A second bomb threat was made Jan. 15, after McGann-Mercy students had been evacuated to Riverhead High School and were assembled in the public school’s auditorium while police searched the parochial school; a threat was then called in to Riverhead High School, forcing the evacuation of those premises.

Riverhead Police and Suffolk County crime stoppers last week offered a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to an arrest in those incidents.

Top photo caption: Evacuated students on the athletic field after the first bomb threat at McGann-Mercy Jan. 14. Photo: Peter Blasl

Editor’s note: A criminal charge is an accusation. By law, a person charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.