High School Bomb Scare Involves Game Boy, Stupidity

Using a Nintendo Game Boy and a cell phone, a high-school student in Florida allegedly concocted a fake bomb in hopes of winning the admiration of his peers. I say he could’ve done that by creating some sweet chiptunes or at least getting a respectable score in Tetris, but instead police say 18 year-old Lars O’Mara tied the Game Boy and cell phone together, exposed some wires out of the contraption and taped the whole thing beneath a bathroom sink. Another student spotted the fake Game Boy bomb and told the authorities.

The Bay County Sheriff’s Office in Panama City Beach, Fla., says O’Mara admitted to creating and planting the fake bomb, hoping it would make him popular and get his fellow students out of class. The latter was a success at least, as three quarters of the student body went home or were pulled from school by their parents. The rest waited an hour outside before returning to class, but I doubt they got much learning done with most of their peers gone. O’Mara faces felony charges of manufacturing a hoax explosive. A smarter prankster would’ve tried this at 17, so his name wouldn’t be revealed and forever spread across the Web. Alas, his future is probably tarnished, as is a perfectly good Game Boy. [Miami Herald via Kotaku]