MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — A student at Salem International University in West Virginia who tried to get creative by using a fake bomb in an English class presentation is in custody after a scare that disrupted the campus and had students in tears.
Harrison County Prosecutor Joe Shaffer says he's charging 33-year-old Clarksburg resident Joshua John Richards with manufacture and possession of a hoax bomb. The misdemeanor is punishable by up to a year in prison upon conviction.
Shaffer says he'll also seek thousands of dollars' restitution for the cost of the emergency response, which involved fire and police departments, sheriff's deputies and a bomb squad.
Shaffer says Richards realized his creativity had gone awry when female classmates began crying Tuesday.
He took his black box with its blinking green light to his car and waited for police.
