An alleged plot by three teens to shoot up the Clinton Middle School cafeteria on Friday, April 17 was foiled by the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office with the help of a parent disturbed by a Snapchat post, Oneida County Sheriff Robert Maciol said.
His office deals with school threats on a regular basis, but this incident involved a far more credible threat than anything else to come in recently, Maciol said during a press conference on the afternoon of Monday, April 13 at the sheriff’s office in Oriskany.
The teens had a definite plan and the means to carry it out, given the firearms confiscated from one of their homes over the weekend, he said.
Two teenage girls from the town of Kirkland, one 14 and one 13, were charged with aggravated threat of mass harm, a Class A misdemeanor, on Sunday, April 12, Maciol said.
Both girls are currently undergoing mental health evaluations at the Wynn Hospital in Utica, he said.
A boy, 13, also from the town of Kirkland, was taken to the Kurt B. Wyman Law Enforcement Building by his guardian on Monday, April 13 where he was charged with second-degree conspiracy, a Class B felony, Maciol said.
Additional charges may be filed against the teens, he said.
The charges are serious, Maciol said, but he said he didn’t know offhand what the potential consequences would be.
The names of the three suspects was not released due to their ages.
No longer any threat to school, public
There is no longer any threat of violence to the school district or the public, Maciol said.
“School is in session today,” he said, “and it is because of everyone working together all weekend to make sure school is safe.”
He said the sheriff’s office will maintain a larger-than-usual presence in the district over the next several days to give parents peace of mind.
“A lot of parents didn’t send their kids to school today,” Maciol acknowledged. “I understand that. But the school is safe.”
Clinton schools Superintendent Christopher Clancy recognizes that the news will bring concerns for students and staff, and said that counseling will be available in the schools over the next several days to help them process their feelings.
“This is certainly very unsettling news for any school community,” he said.
Oneida County threat response
No community ever wants to have to deal with a situation involving a plot for violence in the schools, Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente Jr said. But what followed the threat is good news, he said.
“The system in Oneida County is tops and has really addressed this situation perfectly,” he said.
Several weeks ago, the county publicized that it has reformed its Threat Assessment and Management, or TAM, Team as a partnership between the sheriff’s office and Oneida County Mental Health. The team helps school districts to assess and prevent any potential threats, and helps the students involved to get whatever support and services they may need.
The county will now ramp up its training and education programs around suicide prevention and threat assessment, he said, noting that suicide always plays a role in school shooting scenarios and that behavior changes often indicate suicidal thoughts.
How the investigation began
The investigation began when a parent whose child was not involved in the plot called law enforcement about the Snapchat post, Maciol said.
This parent recognized that the post was for more serious than simply a kid “playing around,” Picente added.
Deputies were dispatched to a residence in Kirkland at about 1:42 a.m. on Saturday, April 11 where they received information that other teens were likely involved, according to the sheriff’s office. They had a 14-year-old girl at the residence transported to Wynn Hospital for a mental health evaluation.
Given the nature of the complaint, deputies turned the case over to the sheriff’s Juvenile Aid Unit and Criminal Investigation Unit.
Another girl, 13, was later found, interviewed and taken to the hospital for a mental health evaluation. Investigators then went to another residence in the town of Kirkland where they found and secured multiple firearms, according to the sheriff’s office.
Maciol said 11 firearms were taken, but declined to describe what types of firearms they are.
The three juveniles are friends and investigators also went to the home of a fourth friend in Boonville where they interviewed another teen, Maciol said. There were about 30 firearms in that home and they were taken temporarily “out of an abundance of caution,” Maciol said, noting that the fourth teen is not a suspect in the plot.
Maciol noted that the parents of all the students questioned cooperated fully with authorities.
What’s next for the juveniles?
The two girls have only been charged with a misdemeanor, “which is extremely troubling to me,” Maciol said.
But even had they been adults, that’s all the law allows for, he said.
“At the end of the day, it is what it is,” Maciol said.
The two girls will be referred to Oneida County Probation on an upcoming date. The boy, who was released to his guardian after his arrest, and was issued an appearance ticket for Oneida County Juvenile Probation at a later time.
A number of units from the sheriff’s office have assisted in the investigation, which remains open, including the road patrol, juvenile aid, criminal investigation, forensic identification, and threat assessment and management as well as the Clinton Central School District.
Asked for his advice to parents from this investigation, Maciol said, “Parents need to be parents. And they need to monitor what their children are doing.”
Anyone who had additional information pertaining to the investigation is asked to call the criminal investigation unit at 315-765-2226.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Parent reported school shooting planned for Friday at Clinton school
Reporting by Amy Neff Roth, Utica Observer Dispatch / Observer-Dispatch
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