England teen accused of making shooting threats to Scottsdale schools, businesses

Lights on a police cruiser are seen in a file image. (Credit: FOX Television Stations)

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - A teenager from the United Kingdom has been arrested after he reportedly called and made shooting threats to schools and businesses across the Scottsdale area.

Scottsdale police say he called the following schools and businesses on April 8 and 11, telling them he was armed with a gun and made shooting threats:

Scottsdale Preparatory Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory Academy
Scottsdale Unified School District Office
Pima Traditional School
Hohokam Elementary
Cheyenne Traditional School
Cochise Elementary
Tommy V’s
OHSO Distillery
Desert Schools Federal Credit Union

Officials say that schools were forced to go into temporary lockdowns until the threats were confirmed false.

Detectives were able to track down the source of the calls to a teenager living in Manchester, England. Officials say he was also caught possessing indecent photos of children and distributing them across the Internet.

The teen, who was not named, was taken into custody on April 12 and will go through the justice system in the U.K.

"Scottsdale Police would like to remind our community that making threats of violence against individuals, businesses, and school facilities are serious crimes, and they will be investigated," police said.