ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — A man in West Virginia has been arrested and charged with calling in threats to a Catholic school in St. Louis County.
Deputies arrested Malcolm A. Johnson Friday morning in Morgantown, West Virginia. The 31-year-old was wanted on a warrant issued Wednesday in St. Louis County.
Town & Country police investigators said Johnson made several phone calls to Christian Brothers College High School starting in June 2021, with the most recent one coming in this past Tuesday. Police said he frequently shared his name and that he wanted the school to close.
In the most recent phone call Tuesday morning, the conversation escalated. A secretary at CBC told police that Johnson said he had permission to have a gun and that he was going to go to the school and shoot whoever he needed to at CBC.
The secretary transferred the call to a school dean, who heard a similar message. Court records from police state Johnson said he was going to shoot “whoever was responsible for his ‘CBC situation.’” The suspect added that if police came for him, he’d use his gun in self-defense, according to charging documents.
There were about 150 people inside the school at the time of the call, police said.
Johnson was arrested by the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department Friday morning. He was charged by the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office with making a terrorist threat, which is a Class D felony.
"I thank the sheriffs in Morgantown for making sure that this defendant faces this serious charge," said St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell. "Above all, I am grateful that the students and staff at Christian Brothers are unharmed and safe today."
Johnson is being held without bond.
CBC High School Dean of Students Jeff Myer released a statement Friday evening:
"I have been in contact with our full school community to assure them that the safety of our students remains our top priority. Over the past several months, many St. Louis organizations have received repeated phone calls from this individual and have been in contact with the authorities. While the content of those calls was confusing and became a regular annoyance, it was never threatening until earlier this week. When a threat was made, we immediately contacted law enforcement who were quickly able to locate Mr. Johnson in West Virginia. Based on his location and information provided by law enforcement, we were quickly able to determine that our students and school community were not in danger. We are thankful for the quick work of law enforcement officers here in St. Louis and in West Virginia."
