18-year-old accused of threats of mass violence against school in RTP
A Raleigh teen has been arrested on charges of making threats against a school in Durham County.
On Wednesday, Research Triangle Park High School received a series of threats against the school, according to the Durham County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators identified 18-year-old Samuel Scipione of Raleigh as the one making the threats. Officers interviewed him with his parents, and he admitted making the threats against the charter school, the Sheriff’s Office stated in a news release. Investigators do not think he intended to carry out the threats.
Scipione was arrested and charged with three counts of communicating threats of mass violence on an educational property. Scipione later bailed out and has been released from custody, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Threats against local schools and weapons brought to schools have become a theme of this school year.
In February, more than a dozen weapons were found in North Carolina Schools, including incidents at Hillside High School in Durham and Wendell Middle School in Wake County.
On Feb. 6, two students were shot, one of them fatally, near Hillside High. Last week, three teens were shot near Brogden Middle School in Durham. Two boys, both 16, died.
“I implore every parent or guardian to sit down with your children and talk about this issue,” Sheriff Clarence Birkhead said in a statement. “They need to understand that it’s not a joke, nor is it something law enforcement takes lightly. It is a felony and they can be criminally charged.”
