Racine County bomb threat; 29-year-old provides confession: officials

RACINE, Wis. - A 29-year-old Racine man is in police custody, accused of being the person behind an automated bomb threat to the Racine County Communications Center. The accused is Devone Kessler. 

When investigators in Racine County first received the threat, they used open-source intelligence-gathering tools. The investigators identified that the telephone number came back to High River in Alberta, Canada. Officials contacted the High River Police Department, which had no inhouse records of the phone number. 

A news release says investigators were able to identify that the telephone number was associated with an internet company that sells telephone numbers to third party companies all over the world.  They were also able to identify that the telephone number most recently originated from a specific company which provides an app that sells telephone numbers that are supposed to be difficult to trace. 

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In the end, investigators able to identify the subscriber information for the location where the telephone number was purchased, which was within the City of Racine. 

Law enforcement examined the history of the residence, developed a suspect, considered a motive, and obtained a search warrant.  The suspect was identified as Kessler, a registered sex offender on felony extended supervision (parole).

Officials said on Thursday, Sept. 26, a team of sheriff’s investigators executed a search warrant at a residence on Douglas Avenue, while a second team contacted Kessler at his work and placed him under arrest.  

The investigators transported Kessler to the Law Enforcement Center and performed an interview. Kessler provided a full confession, officials said. 

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The investigators brought Kessler to the Racine County Jail where he is being held on a $10,000 cash bail for the following offenses:

• Terrorist Threats
• Bomb Scare

The investigators forwarded charging recommendations to the Racine County District Attorney’s Office.