Juveniles charged as adults in Newberry High School bomb threats

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

Two juveniles have been charged as adults in connection with bomb threats made at Newberry High School.

Sarah McKay, 15, was first arrested on September 30. She has now been moved to the Alachua County Jail and charged as an adult with two charges of making a false report of a bomb threat and two charges of sending a written threat to kill, both for incidents on September 28 at Newberry High School.

McKay has been assigned a public defender and remains in the Alachua County Jail on bond of $20,000. When she is released, she will need to comply with mental health treatment recommendations; have no contact with Alachua County Public Schools or Newberry High School except to attend virtual school; possess no weapons or firearms; possess or consume no alcohol or illegal drugs; have a curfew from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.; have no access to cell phones, tablets, computers, the internet, or social media except for virtual school; wear a GPS monitor; and be supervised at all times. She is a 9th-grader with no criminal history.

Ransel Lugo, 17, was first arrested on September 30. He has now been moved to the Alachua County Jail and charged as an adult with making a false report of a bomb threat and sending a written threat to kill for each of three different incidents: September 23, September 24, and September 27, all at Newberry High School.

Lugo has a private attorney, and multiple letters of support have already been filed by family members and friends of the family, pledging to make sure he takes prescribed medications, gets mental health treatment, and refrains from using communications devices. The amount of bail is currently set at $5,000 per charge, or $30,000. When he is released, he will need to comply with mental health treatment recommendations; have no contact with Alachua County Public Schools or Newberry High School; possess no weapons or firearms; possess or consume no alcohol or illegal drugs; have a curfew from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.; have no access to cell phones, tablets, computers, the internet, or social media; and wear a GPS monitor. He has no criminal history, and no employer or school is listed.