Arrest made in ESJ case


Published/Last Modified on Tuesday, December 4, 2007 3:17 PM CST


Arson threat could get teen 15 years in prison

By ROBIN SHANNON

Staff Reporter


LAPLACE - Cyber detectives for the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff's Office arrested a LaPlace teenager Friday after arson threats he posted on an online social interaction web site forced the closure of East St. John High School for a day.

Maj. Mike Tregre, a spokesperson for the Sheriff's Office, said Jared Michael Ranallo, 17, 1725 E. Frisco Dr., LaPlace, was taken into custody Friday afternoon after authorities linked him to a personal profile on MySpace.com that featured pictures of East St. John High School in flames, and claims that Ranallo would burn the school down. School officials said Ranallo was seeking out support for his idea on the online networking site for teenagers.

Tregre said investigators found that eight people made comments on Ranallo's page. Those individuals were questioned by police, but not charged with anything.

Tregre said the Internet posting, coupled with recent bomb threats at East St. John High, forced the cancellation of classes for Friday. The 1500 students of the school returned to classes as scheduled on Monday, but officials from the St. John Parish public school system have not determined when the day that was missed will be made up.

Tregre said Ranallo is being charged with “terrorizing,” a violation of Louisiana Revised Statute 14:40.1. The teen is being held on a $100,000 at the Sherman Walker Correctional Facility in LaPlace.

According to Louisiana law, if convicted, Ranallo faces up to $15,000 in fines or 15 years in prison for his actions.

St. John Sheriff Wayne Jones said the investigation into the threats targeting East St. John High is ongoing, and further arrests are likely.

“This investigation offers me the opportunity to remind teenagers that cyber-bullying and threatening behavior will not be tolerated and may result in serious consequences to the offender,” said Jones in a Sheriff's Office press release. “New technological advances and investigative techniques are new resources that will be fully utilized by St. John Parish Sheriff's Office. Protecting the children of St. John the Baptist Parish remains our highest priority.”

Tregre said the Sheriff's Office is confident that the individuals responsible for the bomb threats will be taken into custody within the next few days. He said police have subpoenaed the phone records where the threats originated.

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Alicia wrote on Dec 5, 2007 11:27 AM:

" I know Jared personally, he is not the type to do this! I honestly think he was kidding, as many kids were. I have a Myspace, and Jared was one of my friends on Myspace, and so were other kids his age who go to ESJ. Many kids posted bulletins stating their aggravation with the whole situation, and I truly am sure than Jared meant it as a joke, and had no intentions of burning the school down. He's such a sweet kid, there's just no way. "

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Ronnie wrote on Dec 6, 2007 10:05 AM:

" I think that he should be punished. Too many things have been happening around the world with school shooting. Police and school officals have been on the news and sending out information about no tolerence, when it comes down to things like that. If the police did not react like they did then everybody would be complaing about what they should have done to protect the students. The kids that seems like they would not do things like that always be the one.I thank the police for handling it before it got out of hand and everybody should be thankful that our police is top of game when it comes down to threats. "

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Anya Harrilal wrote on Dec 6, 2007 10:23 AM:

" This was sooo unecessary i swear.. that buletin was read all wrong by the so call technology expert. yea that expert tracked that bulletin and the eight students who signed but they also read it wrong. they said he made a threat to burn down the school but it wasnt a threat at all his exact words was " i think this will eventually happen to esj so i have a song to dedicate to it" and the picture was esjh with flames on one side which was suppose to be WHERE THE BOMB WENT OFF. he was making fun of the stupidity of the bomb threats, and he was right to dont you think after 2 bomb threat and a lock down because some bullets was found on campus that something bad will happen i agreed with him that something will eventually happen to esj after all that to i agree 100% but i didnt agree that i support the burning of te school no one did not even jared there was NO plan to burn this school it was a stated opinion just like all the other 100 bulletins that were posted about it the only difference between his bulletin and all the others is he had a picture. im sorry but they were so wrong for that. he didnt deserve it. what i want to know is why havent they arrested the people who MADE the bomb threats?? yea exactly they were wrong. that all i have to say about it. esjh student "

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Dawn wrote on Dec 6, 2007 12:43 PM:

" To Alicia: It makes no difference if it was a joke or not. Threatening to burn down a building is not a joke no matter what. Hopefully other kids will learn from him. "

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T wrote on Dec 6, 2007 1:53 PM:

" I am a parent of 3 former ESJ students and I am an ESJ alumni myself. What no one seems to understand is that we live in a country that has never seen the other side of the coin. We have safety and security here. We don't walk through town wondering if we will make it home without a bomob exploding or a sniper shooting you. We have the luxry of attending public schools that actually have restrooms, cafeterias ( no matter how clean or how bad the food may be). We can choose to worship God or choose not too, and not excuted for doing so. I think that the "kid" who posted on my space is being punished rather harshly but yet not so long ago an American teen was taken into the center of town in a foreign country and flogged for vandelizing an automobile. So where does this leave us??? Another Columbine, an Omaha Mall, or even a VA Tech. What the kids today do not understand is that we really were young once too, but now that we have children of our own thier safety is our only concern. To be sitting in your office and watch a co-worker anxiously await the next text message to be sure that her kid is still alive is torture. your heart goes out to them. Please kids wisen up........ "

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Alicia wrote on Dec 7, 2007 10:03 AM:

" To Dawn:When you know Jared, then you can talk about him!!! "

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Dawn wrote on Dec 7, 2007 11:28 AM:

" To Alicia: I have had children in ESJ and other schools. My husband works for St John School. I do not want them to have to contend with this as a joke or not. He may be a nice person, but he joked about something that is inappropriate. I hope that you will see why this is necessary before it becomes a common practice. "

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W wrote on Dec 7, 2007 1:20 PM:

" These dumb kids make me sick. They run their little mouths or post stupidity on a web site and when they get caught everything was just a joke. Arson, bombings, or bullets are not a joke. Maybe the genius this story is about realizes that now. To the intelligent people here you're wasting your time trying to get these foolish feeble minded kids to understand the severity of this stunt. "

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C wrote on Dec 9, 2007 7:51 AM:

" At one time I dislike this "My Space" website, but now, I feel great about the idea that this web page can be monitored by proper officials to catch intended criminal minded teens. Sometimes teens aren't able to open up to their parents or other adults because everyone's too busy with careers (trying to take care of their families) so the teens get upset and want to take their anger out on the world. All I can say to them is "GROW UP", in order to be treated with respect and as an Adult-teen, You must give in return. Thanks so much for St. John officials and the School system for steping in and making our schools safe for others who want something out of life beside joking around with the lives of others. Most kids today are being given opportunities and materials things that their parents weren't able to get when they were kids, and WHAT DO WE GET IN RETURN? answer: HEARTACHES and PAIN. It's sooooooooo sad. "

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C wrote on Dec 9, 2007 8:15 AM:

" " My Advisory to Teens" Show appreciation to your "PARENTS" by helping out with babysitting or chores at home. Show appreciation to your "TEACHER" by studing hard and being the best student you can be. Show appreciation to your "COMMUNITY" by aiding and helping the elders and being a role model to younger kids. Most Important, "Respect Yourself" and never settle for less, get involved in positive activities, sports, clubs,crafts. These things will help you become creative and lead a sucessful life. When evil thought enter into your life, STOP and THINK, ask yourself, "Is my life worth this?", "How will my actions of evil doing effect the next person?". My be it would be a positive thing to open your own "WEB SITE" which will enable you to openly talk to other teens about their troubles. Try hard to give this possible WEB SITE a name that would be inviting and don't forget to ensure strict confidentually.(unless it's about drastic measures that can cause a life threating incident) Please try to do good things with your lives by helping others. I LOVE YOU ALL Someone's MOM "

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Victoria wrote on Dec 10, 2007 12:21 PM:

" I have a child that goes to ESJ, and I was really fustrated with all the bomb threats, and the cancellation of the school. I even considered putting my child at WSJ High School, because I felt my child was not getting the education he needs and deserves. How are kids who wants to be at school learn when they are on lock down, or have to have a day off for foolishness like this. I am glad that the SJP put a stop to this, and made an example out of Jared. I don't know him personally, but if you check out the other tragedies at the other schools, people who knew the suspects didn't think those kids were capable either, but what was the outcome? I would like to thank the St John Parish Police Department for taking this matter seriously and resolving it swiftly. "

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Sad wrote on Dec 10, 2007 1:49 PM:

" What really gets me is that everyone thinks they have the answers when really, they have no clue what's really going on. Kind of like the kids, the adults are saying things before thinking it through as well. We don't have all of the facts, yet we're quick to say "punish him" or "this is why this is happening" and "here's what we should do", but I just urge you not to flush someone's future down the tubes off of information you even get from this newspaper, because it's not all accurate! This newspaper once pronounced my friend to be dead after getting in a BAD car accident... she was in critical condition, but by no means was she dead...... think twice about being so quick to judge off of something that you REALLY don't know everything about. "

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Alicia wrote on Dec 10, 2007 1:54 PM:

" To Dawn: TRUST ME! I have many people who are important to me who go to ESJH. And I was one of the first to say "they need to arrest whoever is making those bomb threats" and I still agree with that statement, but Jared had nothing to do with that. I have heard Jared's story and I know he's innocent. Like I said before, many kids were expressing their aggravation on Myspace, they just decided to pick Jared as the culprit, who actually said that he wasn't threatening the school and he wasn't meaning it as a "hey let's go set the school on fire", but he was taking a poll to see how many people thought someone would actually bomb the school. He realizes he shouldn't have done it, but he didn't mean it the way it seemed. I don't think he deserves to be in jail for that... My heart broke for him, you know... because I know that I myself have said things when I was his age that I didn't think through!!! "

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Travis B. wrote on Dec 11, 2007 8:42 AM:

" what ever happened to freedom of speech? "Amendment 1 - Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression. Ratified 12/15/1791. ^~~~~~~~~^ Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; ^~~~~~~~~~~~^ or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to assemble, ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^ and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Jared has the right to expression. He expressed his self through the picture. And because he did he's getting charged with terrorism? Did he ACTUALLY do anything to terrorize the school? Did he ACTUALLY put the school at risk? No, for a fact he didn't. St.John Police caught the real "terrorist" in the past few days. How can a simple picture cause so much controversy? I'll tell you how.. BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE LETTING IT CAUSE CONTROVERSY. Why doesn't ESJ worry about it's real problems? Like the test scores, the dropouts, and the attendance rate? Kudos to the SJP Police for getting the REAL "terrorist" and keeping us save. But no kudos to the SJP Police for arresting someone because they excersise their imagination and right to expression. Some people may disagree but I KNOW that the students that know the truth are with me. Like it or not. "

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Anya H. wrote on Dec 11, 2007 11:36 AM:

" I am with you travis i agree. as for you DAWN yea you really dont know to say that. you dont know jared you are just going by what you read in the paper and what you heard. well, Dawn i have a queston for you and every other person that posted a comment on this article saying that he deserved it and should be punished to the fullest extent. Have you read that bulletin with your own eyes?? Did you read the words and then look at the picture?? No i take it you didnt well i did and once again i agreed. Did any of you notice that when jared was arrested everyone shut up maybe that was whatthe sjp sheriff's office wanted to do was to calm everyone down because an arrest was made but i have some more news for any who disagree IT WAS THE WRONG ARREST. he is a really good kid he is a very sweet person and how about everyone who has something bad to say about him or any other students at esjh GETS YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT you cant always listen to the paper or the news put yourself in his position how would you feel if you knew the truth but everyone was saying things about you that wasnt even near the truth because they listened to what they heard. you know what people talk and if they werent there first hand then they are talking wrong. "

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Nora wrote on Dec 11, 2007 6:46 PM:

" It was just a cartoon. It was a joke. He didnt mean anything by it. It wasnt like he was saying he was going to burn down the school. He posted that cartoon on myspace saying "who thinks this is going to happen to the school". I really dont believe he should be going to jail or be fid for a cartoon that he just posted at the worng time. If he had done that at any other time, Im pretty sure he wouldnt have got in trouble. Also, if your going to arrest him, arrest everybody that sign that bulletin on myspace. "

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Teddy R. wrote on Dec 16, 2007 6:24 PM:

" the web site did not say he would burn down the school on Friday, maybe he was actually scared himself, after all the bomb threats and standing outside with police, going through metal detectors, I know this would unnerve me and I am an adult, maybe he was scared to go back to school thinking someone might make good on the bomb threats, now I am hearing there was even supposed to be a shooting that day, I have learned not to believe what is printed in the paper because I know for a fact they have not printed their facts correctly; so I have no idea if that is truth or not maybe some of you do; I try not to listen to the gossip. The teachers and board of education seem more interestd in wanting to hang someone for having to close school on that day. Which don't get me wrong I think it was the best thing to do, safety is the best policy; but don't blame all this on a 17 year old who seems to me to have only made a statement; true his timing was not the best in the world but I don't think it was malious. Jared I don't know you or your parents but I hurt for you; it is sad that these people have the power to ruin a young man's life. You are in my prayers and I truly pray this is over for you soon. PS: I feel sorry for the parents of the 16 year old also I am sure they are going through heck right now; pray for them also. No parent wants to think their child would pull a stunt like this; however he actually made threats; Jared just made a statement Good Luck and God Bless "

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