Over the last week a number of schools in and around the Capital Region subject to swatting, which is when a threat is made against a person or organization and is later found to be false.
Bradt Primary School in the Mohonasen district was subject to a terroristic threat on Tuesday. Originally police believed it was related to other swatting incidents around the area but now believe it was the work of a copycat. Mohonasen Superintendent Shannon Shine confirmed in a statement on Wednesday, that a 14 year old student from Draper Middle School has been arrested and charged with making a terroristic threat – a felony.
I am writing with an update to the recent “swatting” incident experienced by the District as a whole and Bradt Primary School in particular. Thanks to the combined efforts of Rotterdam Police, NYS Police and the FBI, the person responsible for this particular swatting incident has been identified by law enforcement and has been arrested. The person is a juvenile so the name will not be released.
Rotterdam police, along with New York State Police and the FBI investigated the incident and determined the threat, which was made via Twitter, was done behind a VPN to disguise the location from where the threat originated.
The 14 year old was interviewed by police and they don’t believe the student had a specific plan or access to weapons.
Rotterdam Police issued the following statement:
Feature photo: Scott Rodgerson on Unsplash