Police: Chappaqua Teen Threatened Shooting at Armonk School
A 16-year-old Chappaqua boy was arrested last Saturday for threatening a shooting at his school and for transmitting menacing texts to another student, law enforcement authorities said.
State police in Somers said they arrested the teen on May 12 at his home in Chappaqua and charged him with the felony of making a terroristic threat. Police said he warned that he would initiate a shooting at the Westfield Day School on North Greenwich Road in Armonk where he is a student.
He was also charged with second-degree harassment, a Class A misdemeanor, for making threats against a student.
Investigators at the New York State Intelligence Center received information via its hotline that the teen had made the threats against the school, according to the Westchester County District attorney’s office.
Subsequently, the North Castle Police Department and state police learned that the teen had allegedly sent threatening texts that included photographs of him standing with what appeared to be a rifle, said state police spokesman Aaron Hicks.
Hicks said the teen was located at his family’s home in Chappaqua and admitted to making the threats. Police also found four rifles in the residence that were legally owned by other individuals living in the house. Those firearms were removed by state police.
Police did not have information readily available regarding a motive or when the threats were made.
Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr. said in a statement police took no chances.
“We take school threats very seriously and will continue working closely with New York State Police and other law enforcement agencies to keep our children safe,” Scarpino said. “In this case, we commend the New York State Police Intelligence Center and North Castle Police Department for their swift action.”
The teen was arraigned in the Town of North Salem Town Court and remanded to the Westchester County Jail in Valhalla in lieu of $15,000 cash bail or $30,000 bond. He was scheduled for a court appearance Monday night in Somers Town Court.
A media report that a Somers school was threatened is incorrect, according to an email from the Somers Central School District.
“We are in contact with local and State Police officials who have indicated that at this point in time they have not been made aware of a threat against Somers High School,” the email stated.
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