A student at Lincoln Academy in Newcastle has been charged with threatening other students and placed in the custody of his parents.
Lt. Michael Murphy of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office said the boy was taken into police custody Friday evening after investigators met with the boy and his mother. The student is charged with terrorizing, a Class D misdemeanor, and is not being identified because he is a juvenile.
“After all interviews were completed, it is the belief of investigators that the student was unlikely to act on his alleged threat,” Murphy said in a statement.
Faculty at the private high school, which serves 18 towns in Lincoln County and has students from 16 other countries, learned Friday that the student, “made threatening comments to other students during school on Thursday, Feb. 15.”
The alleged threatening comments were made just one day after Nikolas Cruz shot and killed 17 students and teachers at Marjory Stoneham Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in one of the nation’s deadliest school massacres.
Faculty notified Lincoln Academy’s school resource officer, Deputy Chad Gilbert, who investigated with Lt. Brendan Kane of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.
Murphy said investigators conducted several interviews before deciding to issue a juvenile summons charging the student with terrorizing.
“While there appears to be no further cause for concern in this matter, it is the policy of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office to investigate all complaints of this nature and pursue all suspects without delay,” Murphy said.
Murphy did not respond to an email seeking the student’s age and grade.
Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:
dhoey@pressherald.com
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