A 14-year-old Texas high school freshman was arrested and suspended for three days after arriving to class with a homemade clock that police and school officials feared was a bomb.

It wasn't an explosive device. But the boy's arrest was, indeed, a sign of the times.

Ahmed Mohamed wanted to impress his engineering teacher with his creation that took him 20 minutes to build at his Irving home. Local media described the device as being built with "a circuit board and power supply wired to a digital display, all strapped inside a case with a tiger hologram on the front."

The Dallas Morning News, which first reported the arrest, said the youth's engineering teacher at MacArthur High in Irving said it was a "nice" device but cautioned him not to show it to other teachers. But the boy would soon be led away in handcuffs and eventually booked by Irving police.

Things went south for the boy when the clock beeped while in his backpack during English class and the teacher confiscated it. Later that day, he was interrogated by Irving police and school officials. "It could reasonably be mistaken as a device if left in a bathroom or under a car. The concern was, what was this thing built for? Do we take him into custody?" Irving police spokesman James McLellan told the Dallas Morning News.

The boy's father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, said his son was "mistreated" because of his name and "because of Sept. 11."

The freshman, who was fingerprinted by police, won't be charged with a crime. Irving police Chief Larry Boyd told a news conference Wednesday that "We consider the case closed."

As the boy's plight went viral, the freshman tweeted Wednesday: "Thank you for your support! I really didn't think people would care about a muslim boy."

Updated, September 16 @ 1pm CST (7pm BST): After the media fallout from Ahmed Mohamed's arrest this week, the boy received a number of social media notes showing unexpected support from the likes of Mark Zuckerberg and Hilary Clinton. But perhaps most surprising of all, President Barack Obama's Twitter account put out a public invitation to the boy around noon today, encouraging Mohamed's maker spirit and asking if he'd bring his creation to the White House.

Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great. — President Obama (@POTUS44) September 16, 2015

As of this update, there was no word yet on whether an official White House visit was in the works. Ahmed, his father, and attorneys told WFAA in Dallas they plan to meet with the principal and the police chief today.