Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Sheriff’s office investigators on Wednesday arrested a 21-year-old Del Rio man for allegedly threatening to “shoot up a school.”
Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez today announced the arrest of James Logan Woodell, whose residence address was not released. Woodell has been charged with the offense of terroristic threat, a third-degree felony, according to an affidavit released by the sheriff’s office following an open records request by the 830 Times.
In the affidavit, VVSO Sgt. Mario Vargas, an investigator in the sheriff’s office criminal investigations division, wrote that on Wednesday afternoon, the sheriff’s office communications division received three calls from a phone number with a local area code.
“VVSO Telecommunications Officer Amanda Cuevas advised that the caller made two threatening statements. Cuevas stated that the first call was at 4:18 p.m. . . . The caller says the following: ‘I am going to shoot you all asses up’,” Vargas wrote.
“The second phone call occurs at 4:50 p.m., (and) the caller says, ‘I am going to shoot up a school.’ Cuevas advised the current VVSO patrol shift of the active threat made to the school,” Vargas added.
Vargas wrote that a subsequent investigation of the calls led them to Woodell’s mother, who resides in south Del Rio. The investigator in his affidavit noted that further investigation of the calls led him to Woodell.
Martinez said Vargas applied for and obtained a warrant for Woodell’s arrest from 83rd
Judicial District Judge Robert E. Cadena about 10 p.m. Wednesday.
Woodell was subsequently located at another relative’s home and taken into custody, the sheriff said.
Martinez thanked the sheriff’s office’s law enforcement partners for their assistance in the investigation that led to Woodell’s arrest.
“The investigation on Wednesday included the Val Verde Sheriff’s Office along with the school district police department, the Del Rio Police Department, and resources from the Texas Department of Public Safety helped identify the individual,” Martinez said.
The sheriff said all threats against local schools will be taken seriously.
“We’re going to handle every situation as a serious matter. We will investigate, and if the investigation leads us to an individual, that individual will be arrested and processed through the criminal justice system,” Martinez said.
