Police say Woodland Hills student posted bomb threat to get out of school early

A Woodland Hills High School student has been charged with posting a bomb threat Wednesday on social media, triggering a major police response and leading to an emergency early dismissal that disrupted the schedules of hundreds of his peers, according to a criminal complaint.

That student, identified as Jason Cummings, 18, of Edgewood told police that he wanted to get out early so he posted a hoax threat on Instagram.

Churchill police charged Cummings with one felony count of terroristic threats and disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor.

The threat led the school to send roughly 950 students home early and call police.

Officers from Churchill, Forest Hills, Wilkins and Pittsburgh Regional Transit swept the premises and determined the threat to be false.

Woodland Hills became the second school evacuated in the area that day. A separate bomb threat on Snapchat led Gateway High School to evacuate its Monroeville campus and dismiss more than 1,100 students early.

That threat, too, was false. Police have not reported making any arrests in the Gateway case.

Asked why he placed the threat, Cummings said that he was aware that the Gateway warning prompted an early dismissal and he “wanted the same for Woodland Hills School District as his fellow students made comments wishing they were out of school,” the complaint said.

Woodland Hills officials contacted police just before 11 a.m. about the threat, which was initially reported by Cummings, according to the complaint.

The threat, posted earlier on an Instagram account with the handle “nycjayy2024,” read: “There will be a explosion at Woodland Hills High School @ 12:17pm @woodlandhillssd Good Luck to All,” the complaint said.

Police said the post contained emojis of bombs and TNT.

The time — 12:17 p.m. — matched up exactly with the school’s bell schedule, police said.

Churchill police Officer Christopher Lewandowski filed a flurry of emergency information requests to Instagram, Google, Verizon and Upcloud.

The companies’ quick responses put the officer on a path to finding Cummings.

Lewandowski obtained email addresses and a birthdate for the Instagam account holder — one day off from Cummings’ birthdate, according to court records.

He also got a name, address and contact information linked to the IP address to which the Instagram account was registered. It came back to Cummings’ house.

After sharing the information Thursday with the school, police learned that Cummings was a student there.

Later that day, police and Daniel Castagna, the Woodland Hills superintendent, interviewed Cummings, and he admitted to making the threat, the complaint said.

Cummings was released on nonmonetary bond.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 13.