By UNITED STATES ATTORNEY-OMAHA
United States Attorney Steven Russell announced that Andrew Isaac Abrams, 42, of Tucson, Arizona, was sentenced today in Omaha, Nebraska, for transmitting a threat to injure the person of another through an interstate communication. Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Abrams to 18 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After his release from prison, Abrams will begin a three-year term of supervised release.
On or about April 23, 2021, Abrams contacted multiple Omaha-based locations using a phone number originating in Tucson, Arizona. The first call went to Union Pacific Railroad Security, stating that a moving truck loaded with two tons of explosive material was parked near their building. As a precaution the building was evacuated, and Union Pacific Railroad sent their employees home for the day. Then Abrams contacted Douglas County Civic Center and Courthouse from the same phone number and stated that he had parked a Ryder truck filled with explosives in front of Union Pacific and that, “You guys are killing us, that’s why I’m going to blow up the civic center too!” Abrams placed a call to Eppley Airfield, located in Omaha, referencing “blowing up airplanes”, and mentioning several of the airlines. Finally, Abrams called Central High School in Omaha and left a voicemail on the school’s voicemail stating that there would be bombs and shooters in the Elkhorn, Westside, Central and Millard Schools in Omaha and mentioning the Union Pacific Railroad Headquarters.
Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant on Abrams’s apartment in Tucson on May 13, 2021 and seized his cellphone. Investigators reviewed the call records for the cellphone, and verified that the calls made on April 23, 2021 to the four affected locations were made from Abrams’s cellphone located in Tucson. Abrams was arrested on May 14, 2021.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Omaha Police Department, and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.