Amir Safavi Farokhi, 28, of Tucson, was arrested last week on a federal complaint and arrest warrant by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Southern Arizona Violent Crime and Gang Task Force for using his telephone in Tucson to make a threat to place pipe bombs on school buses in the Castleton area of Indianapolis, Indiana. Farokhi was also charged with making an interstate threat to rape and murder a female employee of the Bloomington, Indiana Police Department.

The complaint alleges that Farokhi used his telephone in Arizona to call the Indianapolis Police Department, and told police officers they should send officers to a specific location in the Castleton area of Indianapolis because Farokhi planned to place pipe bombs on school buses and shoot any responding police officers. Farokhi also used his telephone in Arizona to transmit a threat to rape and murder an employee of the Bloomington, Indiana Police Department, telling the victim he would wait outside for her at the end of her shift.

The complaint further alleges that Farokhi’s course of threatening behavior extended to two Tucson-area hospitals as well.  On October 21, Farokhi is alleged to have called Tucson ER Hospital and threatened to shoot hospital staff and patients. On October 22 and 23, he is alleged to have made similar threats to Northwest Hospital in Tucson.

A complaint is simply a method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The United States will have up to 30 days from arrest to seek an indictment of Farokhi.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, as part of the FBI’s Southern Arizona Violent Crime and Gang Task Force, conducted the investigation in this case. The United States Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, is handling the prosecution.