by
John R. Fischer, Senior Reporter | October 27, 2022
A Canadian man has been arrested for making bomb threats against Boston Children's Hospital and other sites in Boston. (Photo courtesy of Boston Children's Hospital)
A 42-year-old Canadian has been arrested for allegedly making several bomb threats against Boston Children’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital and other sites in Boston.
Joshua Kimble, of Peterborough, Ontario, is said to have made a series of online threats on September 9 to bomb Boston Children’s. He then followed up over the next four days with more aimed at MGH, the Prudential Center, the Orpheum Theater, and the Boston Public Library, according to the Boston Police Department (BPD).
"All of these threats shared similar details and appeared to have originated in Canada based on the findings of Boston Police Department investigators," said the BPD in a statement.
Boston authorities shared their findings with the Peterborough Police Service in Canada, which arrested Kimble on September 26, charging him with 12 counts of public mischief, 12 counts of false information, and one count of failing to comply with a probation order. It also obtained a warrant to search his residence.
The arrest was made in coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office; and the Peterborough Police Service.
Kimble is currently in custody and awaiting trial in Canada.
A woman in Westfield, Massachusetts was arrested in September for
making a false bomb threat against Boston Children’s in August that caused the facility to go into lockdown and a bomb squad to be dispatched.
Catherine Leavy, 37 was charged with one count of making a false bomb threat and one count of intentionally providing false or misleading information that a bomb was being delivered to the hospital.
She reportedly made the threat after the provider published informational YouTube videos about surgical options for transgender patients. Leavy and other far-right social media accounts, news outlets and bloggers verbally attacked the institution, falsely accusing it of improperly performing hysterectomies on children.
She faces up to a total of 15 years in prison for both counts, as well as $250,000 fines for each.
Boston Children’s was previously the victim of a cyberattack in 2021 by mercenaries
hired by the Iranian government to disrupt services there. The FBI intervened and helped the provider thwart the attack.
