A 22-year-old former Creighton Prep student has waived his preliminary hearing in connection with threats made against staff at the Omaha high school, sending his case directly to district court. Garang Mathiang is charged with two counts of terroristic threats after allegedly calling and sending messages to multiple Creighton Prep staff members.
A preliminary hearing is an early probable-cause screening, not a trial: the state must show that a crime was committed and that probable cause connects the accused to it. Defendants may question witnesses and subpoena them. The Nebraska Judicial Branch’s explanation of felony proceedings says a waiver or a finding of probable cause sends the case to district court, which handles felony matters. Waiving the hearing advances the case; it does not determine guilt.
Threats Reported in the Middle of the Night
According to KETV, which first reported that Mathiang waived his hearing and that a judge bound him over to district court, Omaha police say he sent messages to and called different Creighton Prep staff members. The report, by reporter Madison Perales, identifies Mathiang as a former student at the school. Omaha Police were first contacted by Creighton Prep staff around 1:21 a.m. on August 26, reporting violent phone calls and text messages from Mathiang threatening to shoot people and blow up the school, according to WOWT.
Creighton Prep officials stepped up campus security measures in the wake of those threat reports, WOWT also reported. The early-morning contact from staff prompted an immediate police response and precautionary changes at the school, which sits on a 40-acre campus at 7400 Western Avenue in Omaha. Founded in 1878, Creighton Prep is Nebraska’s largest all-boys private Catholic high school, enrolling roughly 1,000 students in grades 9 through 12, per the school.
A Former Student and Athlete
Mathiang’s ties to Creighton Prep predate the alleged threats by years. He played varsity basketball for the school during his senior year in the 2021–2022 season, according to a digital catalog published by Creighton Prep. Even earlier, in February 2020, Mathiang was among 17 student artists whose work was featured in the school’s inaugural Black Student Alliance art show in the Lannon Learning Commons gallery, the school noted at the time.
What the Felony Charges Carry
Mathiang is charged with two counts of terroristic threats, a charge classified as a Class IIIA felony under Nebraska Revised Statute § 28-311.01. That statute applies to communications threatening violent crimes with intent to terrorize or cause evacuations, according to the Nebraska Legislature. Under a separate statute, § 28-105, a Class IIIA felony carries a maximum penalty of up to three years imprisonment and 18 months of post-release supervision, or a fine of up to $10,000, or both, with no mandatory minimum prison term…