Bomb scare Tweet: Children, wives must be hidden

North Berwick Police Chief Stephen Peasley says he may seek compensation for his department's costs connected with Wednesday's bomb scare at NHS. (Courtesy photo)

NORTH BERWICK, Maine - MSAD 60 officials on Thursday released more information on the bomb scare Tweet that closed Noble High School on Wednesday, while today The Lebanon Voice has learned that the suspect or suspects are well known to both Berwick and North Berwick Police.

North Berwick Police Chief Stephen Peasley said today the investigation is moving forward but going slower than hoped as "we try to get our ducks in a row."

He said he couldn't confirm what town the suspect or suspects were from.

Meanwhile, the Maine Computer Crimes Task Force had furnished him with the IP address, which tells lawmen where the physical computer that posted the tweet is supposedly located.

The threat was announced on a Twitter feed on Tuesday night and brought to the attention of high school officials Wednesday morning, forcing the shutdown.

MSAD 60 Superintendent Steven Connolly called the threat "credible" and immediately closed the school.

On Thursday Connolly announced on the school website home page that the Tweet that sounded the threat "also said children and wives needed to be hidden, and closed with vulgar language and racial epithets."

He also said he wanted to thank "numerous students for taking the bold step of sharing access to that post" and reported that the perpetrators have been identified.

Peasley said the investigation has taken a lot of police department resources, including overtime.

He said he intends to press officials to try to recoup from the suspects some of the costs of the mammoth investigation being waged by state, Berwick and North Berwick Police.

If a suspect is found guilty, they face up to five years in prison.