Police in France have disclosed that a 16-year-old pupil was arrested over a false bomb threat outside Paris.
The teenager was arrested on Thursday over an emailed bomb threat in Saint-Ouen-l’Aumône, a town northwest of Paris.
French authorities have been scrambling to halt a week of bomb scares at airports, schools, and landmarks.
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Reports say at least 18 people have been arrested after a wave of bomb threats prompted evacuations across France.
Authorities say those behind the disruption are mostly minors.
The threats come at a time of heightened tension in France, after a teacher was fatally stabbed by an alleged jihadist last week at a school in the northern city of Arras.
Around 1,200 people, including around a thousand pupils, had been evacuated from the Jean Perrin high school the suspect attended.
No explosives were found following an examination of the site, and the teenager’s exact motive remained unclear.
Most of France’s major airports outside Paris were targeted, leading to evacuations, hours-long delays, and dozens of canceled flights.
France’s Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said that 22 probes had been launched in connection with the false alarms.
“There will obviously be convictions, we cannot let this happen,” he said.
He reiterated his pledge to crack down on “little jokers who have no sense of responsibility.”
“The parents must be there and I remind you that it is the parents who will pay the financial consequences,” he added
Offenders risk two years in prison and a 30,000-euro ($31,700) fine.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau warned that the punishment could be even more severe as such bomb threats will be considered as a form of premeditated “psychological violence.”
Speaking to French newspaper Le Parisien, Beccuau said that such an offense is punishable by three years in prison and a 45,000-euro fine adding that minors will be brought before a juvenile judge.