A 28-year-old man was arrested Wednesday after two schools in Broward County received calls falsely reporting a bomb threat, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office and Lauderhill Police.
Just after 7 a.m., BSO deputies were called to Pioneer Middle School in Cooper City for a reported bomb threat, and within an hour determined there was no threat to the school, BSO’s Cooper City district said in a post on social media. A person of interest had been detained by about 9 a.m., police said.
A similar threat was made against Larkdale Elementary School in Lauderhill, Sgt. Parys Thomas, a spokesperson for the police department, said in an email.
Parys and Miranda Grossman, a Sheriff’s Office spokesperson, identified the man who was arrested as Christopher Matthew Wilkens.
Wilkens does not have any connection to the school in Lauderhill, Parys said. It’s unclear whether Wilkens has any connection to the school in Cooper City.
The Sheriff’s Office did not provide additional information about the investigation.
Wilkens was being held in the Broward Main Jail on Wednesday night on one count of false report of a bomb and two counts of threat to discharge a destructive device, jail records show.
Christopher Matthew Wilkens, 28, was arrested Sept. 16, 2026. (Broward Sheriff’s Office/Courtesy)