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Maryland high school student arrested for alleged ‘threats of mass violence’ and arson

The student, who is a minor, was arrested but later released to a parent

Julia Reinstein
Friday 19 January 2024 18:00 GMT
Crisfield High School in Westover, Maryland
Crisfield High School in Westover, Maryland (Google)

A Maryland high school student has been arrested for allegedly threatening mass violence and arson.

On Tuesday morning, the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office was alerted to a “potentially dangerous situation” at Crisfield High School in Westover, the department said in a press release.

An official at the school ‘had received several student reports of a specific student threatening violence and allegedly in possession of a gun on the school bus,’ the press release states.

School officials, including a school resource officer, immediately went to look for the student in question and “quickly determined that the suspect was not on the school campus.”

The student — who is a minor and has not been publicly identified — was located at their home. They were arrested, and face one charge of threatening mass violence and another charge of threatening arson.

The sheriff’s office said they requested the student be held in Department of Juvenile Justice custody, but the request was denied, and the student was released to a parent.

Investigators did not find evidence that the student had brought a weapon to school, but apparently had faced similar accusations years prior.

In October 2019, the same student was accused of bringing a handgun onto school property, ‘disturb[ing] a school operation,’ and resisting arrest.

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