Christopher Craig, the former head basketball coach at Midland College, was arrested in Utah County, Utah Monday after police said he made a bomb threat against an elementary school.
Utah County Police say at about 2:13 p.m. Monday, dispatchers received a call from a man who said he was at Eagle Valley Elementary School with explosives in the trunk of his car.
He also reportedly told dispatchers that children and staff should be evacuated and officers should keep their distance.
Craig entered the school to warn staff and then left, prompting school officials to place the building on lockdown, according to the release.
Around 250 children were later evacuated from the school and taken to safe locations, police officials say.
All children were accounted for and reunited with family members by 5:30 p.m. Monday afternoon.
Craig reportedly told negotiators while at the scene that he “wanted to share his message” and after he was able to do so, he would comply.
Negotiators on scene managed to get Craig to comply and placed him into custody, according to the release.
Members of the Utah Valley Metro Bomb Squad searched Craig’s vehicle but did not find any explosives or other threats inside of the vehicle, according to the release.
Officials also obtained a search warrant for Craig’s home however, no explosives or weapons were found, according to the release.
Craig was then arrested and charged with threat of terrorism, interference with arresting officer, failure to disclose identity, disrupting operation of a school and disorderly conduct.
However, just before the threat was made, Craig reportedly wrote an extensive blog outlining his plan.
In the post, Craig refers to himself as “The Radical Islamic Jihadist Muhammad Allah Al-Khidr,” and says his reason for writing was due to his “pending arrest” and plans of a hunger strike he will implement while in jail.
He goes on to say that he will make the threat and describes the hunger strike stating “racism is the reason for my hunger strike,” according to the blog post.
Craig is also the focus of a Sports Illustrated article which chronicles his mental health issues, and basketball career.
According to the release, Craig was known to have mental health issues although it was unknown if he had been receiving treatment at the time of his most recent arrest.
Officials at Midland College were able to confirm that Craig was the head basketball coach from 2010 to 2013.
He reportedly resigned in the Spring semester of 2013 for personal reasons.
(Information from YourBasin.com & Good4Utah.com)
