In western France, a 13-year-old is being investigated by the police for allegedly making over 380 fake bomb threats.
The young individual is accused of sending these threats via email or phone to various locations including airports, courthouses, and universities throughout France.
The boy, reportedly struggling with behavioral issues, was apprehended by authorities this past Monday. Local media have identified him as facing numerous charges, including disseminating false information about potential destruction and issuing death threats.
Since the autumn of 2023, France has seen a significant rise in hoax threats. A specific instance in Rennes, a city in western France, involved multiple bogus bomb alerts in early January, which led to the questioning of a family from Laval, located about 45 miles away.
While the parents and one child were quickly cleared and released, the youngest child, aged 13, confessed to making several bomb threats against national institutions and was subsequently detained.
Philippe Astruc, a local prosecutor, informed reporters that the minor claimed to have made these false threats “for fun,” without any political or religious intent.
The teenager used a foreign VPN service to conceal his IP address, but technical police efforts and international collaboration traced the source back to his family’s computer in Laval.
In a related development, two other minors in Rennes have been identified as suspects in this case.
According to France’s Justice Ministry, there have been 192 investigations into fake bomb threats, with about 30 leading to charges, predominantly against minors and young adults. The Ministry emphasized that most of these threats did not reference the situation in the Middle East or other global events.
Notably, the increase in these threats occurred in late 2023, a period marked by heightened tensions following Israel’s intensified actions against Hamas in response to the Palestinian group’s terror attack on October 7.
During this time, numerous bomb threats were reported at various public places in France, including airports, museums, and schools.
