Portsmouth school shooting threat suspect to remain in Dover jail: How case is proceeding
CONCORD — Wearing a Strafford County House of Corrections inmate uniform, Kyle Hendrickson appeared in U.S. District Court Friday and effectively agreed to remain incarcerated for now.
Hendrickson, who is accused of threatening to "shoot up" Portsmouth High School, waived a detention hearing and a probable cause hearing, through Attorney Murdoch Walker, representing Amy McGarry Law Offices, the firm representing him. It was a brief appearance in front of Magistrate Judge Daniel Lynch.
Hendrickson agreed to remain incarcerated until May 19, when federal prosecutors will take his case to a grand jury for possible indictment. It is within Hendrickson's rights to ask for a new detention hearing before then if he so chooses.
A spokesperson for Strafford County House of Corrections confirmed Hendrickson is being held at the Dover jail facility.
Hendrickson made his initial federal court appearance Tuesday afternoon after being booked at the Portsmouth Police Department.
The 25-year-old Berwick, Maine resident, was arrested by authorities Thursday, April 13 in Portland, Maine. He allegedly posted the threat a day earlier via a Snapchat video showing him with a firearm in a vehicle in front of the school in Portsmouth. He is facing a state Class B felony charge of criminal threatening with a firearm.
Investigators following up on Hendrickson's alleged threat found multiple firearms, including an AR-15 rifle, ammunition and tactical gear in his car, according to a federal prosecutor.
Hendrickson also faces a federal charge of “transmitting in interstate commerce a threat to injure the person of another,” according to Jane Young, U.S. attorney for New Hampshire.
"We will continue to review the evidence," Young said Friday. "We moved swiftly," she added, citing "the potential for harm this represented. Now we will get all the reports and information so we can review them and assess for any additional charges. Then we will present the case to the grand jury."
Young praised the work of the Portsmouth Police Department.
"In cases like this, we always have to be prepared," she said. "We always have to act. It is our job to provide safety. We made sure we have sufficient evidence and much of that is due to the great work by Portsmouth Police."
An attempt to reach Walker, Hendrickson's lawyer, for comment was not immediately successful.
Portsmouth Police Commission reacts to threat: 'Hard to see it as a joke'
Seated alongside Portsmouth Police Chief Mark Newport and Deputy Chief Michael Maloney, the three-member city Police Commission met Tuesday and reflected on last week’s incident. Commissioners praised investigators for arresting Hendrickson less than 24 hours after the threat was reported, on the same day schools across the city were closed as a precaution.
Commission chairperson Stefany Shaheen commended the department for reacting quickly to a cybertip from federal authorities, working with the school system to cancel school and dedicating its resources toward locating Hendrickson.
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That day, she continued, could have turned out to be quite different had authorities not taken action.
“I know there’s lots to be said about what we need to do to prevent the horrific violence we’ve seen in communities across this country and we were fortunate in this community to have avoided that,” she said. “It really is a testament to the swift response of the FBI and this department and then the ability to locate the perpetrator of these crimes. We are lucky to be in a place where we have such a tremendous force here and we will keep working hard to ensure that the community is safe and that the schools are protected. There’s more work to do and we’ll keep at it.”
Newport noted Portsmouth police officers have children in city schools and take pride in keeping SAU 52, and the community as a whole, safe from harm.
“We realize this is a tough time for our community. The defendant says it was a joke but what he doesn’t understand is he victimized our whole community,” he said. “This is the second time in a short period of time that we’ve had a threat at one of the schools. We take it seriously and we’re going to use all available resources to continue trying to prevent and prosecute people who make a threat towards our schools.”
The chief said investigators knew shortly into the investigation that Hendrickson was the perpetrator. Despite the community wanting to know as much as possible, Newport said police didn’t want to “put out information trying to ease the fear of the community” while the suspect remained at large.
“I know in this day and age, everybody wants information instantaneously, but sometimes these cases take time and all of our available resources … were at work,” he said. “There was just a timeframe where we were not able to provide information because we didn’t want it to hinder our investigation.”
Previous coverage of Portsmouth school threat:
'Terrifying' Portsmouth school threat has leaders calling for steps to keep kids safe
Portsmouth school threat suspect had AR-15, more weapons, feds allege
Portsmouth High School shooting threat suspect arrested after schools closed
Commission member Buzz Scherr remarked that “jokes have consequences,” referring to Hendrickson allegedly claiming the video of the threat was not intended to be serious. The 25-year-old has since been charged with a Class B felony in the state of New Hampshire for his alleged actions, as well as a federal crime.
“It’s hard to see it as a joke when the individual is driving around with an arsenal in their car,” Shaheen said.
Ian Lenahan contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth school threat suspect Kyle Hendrickson in Dover jail
