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'87 Lakeland High Alumnus Accused Of Threatening Reunion

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By CHRIS ECHEGARAY

Published: October 3, 2007

Updated: 10/04/2007 08:18 am

LAKELAND - LAKELAND - A 39-year-old man was arrested Wednesday night for sending an e-mail threatening to make the Lakeland High School reunion worse than the Virginia Tech shootings, the Polk County Sheriff's Office reported.

Timothy Joseph Vaughn

Timothy Joseph Vaughn of 1045 Hallam Drive, Lakeland, was charged with aggravated cyberstalking, 178 counts of possession of a destructive device and possession of material used to manufacture a destructive device.

Vaughn received an e-mail from classmates.com about the upcoming reunion for the Lakeland High School Class of 1987. Vaughn, a member of that class, responded from his personal e-mail account, stating that he was going to "make Virginia Tech look like a birthday party," according to an affidavit.

Detectives went to Vaughn's home and arrested him. Detectives said Vaughn told them he sent the e-mail and that he hated all his classmates and just wanted to be left alone.

Shortly thereafter, detectives noticed an M-80. They searched the home and found 178 homemade M-80s and M-100s and 700 additional devices under construction, authorities said.

M-80s and M-100s are large firecrackers first manufactured by the U.S. military to simulate gunfire. They were outlawed in 1966. They are considered illegal explosives by the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

1987 Yearbook Picture

Vaughn was taken to Polk County Jail.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and a local bomb squad assisted in the collection of the evidence.

The case is under investigation.

Reporter Billy Townsend contributed to this report.

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