A phone call threatening violence against elementary schools in Brattleboro, Vermont sent police scrambling Tuesday morning, prompting lockdown-style precautions across the Windham Southeast and Windham Northeast supervisory unions. The person believed responsible for the call was located in New York state. Officers were stationed at schools throughout town as officials worked to determine whether students were in any danger.
The Brattleboro Police Department said it was investigating a call received that Tuesday morning from someone who threatened violence against local elementary schools, according to reformer.com. Police said the individual believed responsible for the call was located in New York state and did not pose an immediate threat to Brattleboro schools. Schools in both the Windham Southeast and Windham Northeast supervisory unions implemented precautionary security measures that morning as a result.
Shelter-in-Place and Secure Campus Orders
Brattleboro schools began the day following shelter-in-place protocols, with outdoor activities suspended for students, the same report noted. The Windham Northeast Supervisory Union placed all of its school buildings and offices under secure campus status after receiving notification from Vermont State Police of an unspecified threat. The Brattleboro Police Department also remained in contact with Vermont State Police regarding schools in the surrounding area and reached out to representatives of the Windham Southeast Supervisory Union as the situation unfolded.
During the investigation, police identified a suspect and determined he was located in New York, according to WRGB. That station identified the man as Jacob Cunningham, of Colchester, Connecticut, and reported that the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office arrested him in New York. Police told WRGB that Cunningham was charged with making a terroristic threat.
A Separate Account of the Charges and Custody
The Post-Journal, reporting from New York, offers additional detail on how Cunningham was tracked down. That outlet reports the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office was called Tuesday to assist an out-of-state police agency regarding the threats, and that a joint investigation determined 32-year-old Jacob D. Cunningham made the threats while he was in Chautauqua County. According to the Post-Journal, Cunningham was taken into custody and charged with making a terroristic threat of mass harm and making a terroristic threat — a different charge count than the single charge described by WRGB's police source, and the discrepancy between the two accounts has not been independently resolved.
The Post-Journal also reports Cunningham was sent to the Chautauqua County Jail on $500,000 bond or $250,000 cash bail, and that he is facing additional charges from the Brattleboro Police Department. The outlet notes there were no specific threats against any schools in Chautauqua County itself, underscoring that the threatened violence was aimed at the Vermont schools even as the case was handled on the New York end.
Officials Point to a Broader Pattern of Hoax Calls
School officials told the Reformer that calls of this type are believed to be likely hoax calls, sometimes referred to as swatting, and that such calls have been reported in school communities across the country. That assessment describes a general pattern rather than a conclusion about this specific call, and nothing in the available reporting establishes whether the Brattleboro threat was in fact a hoax.
Brattleboro schools have faced threat scares before. Police previously investigated a reported threat against Brattleboro Union High School and determined there was no danger to students or staff and that the campus was secure, according to mynbc5.com. In a separate incident, Vermont State Police investigated a social media post referencing Bethel Elementary School and determined there was not a credible threat, the station reported.
