CLINTON, Mass. (WHDH) — Multiple weapons, ammunition, an array of drugs and $15,000 in cash were found at a Clinton teenager’s home Wednesday after authorities were made aware of an apparent threat he made against the high school, police said.
Officers were called around 7:15 a.m. to Clinton High School after receiving word that an 18-year-old student had made a concerning remark on social media the night before, which said “I’m going out with a bang,” according to court documents.
Nathan Steele, who is just days away from graduating, pleaded not guilty Thursday to a slew of charges, including disturbing the peace, being a disorderly person, disrupting a school assembly, willfully communicating a threat, possession of a firearm without a license, possession of ammunition without a license and unlawful distribution of a drug.
Steele was uncooperative and fled to another part of the school when officers tried to speak with him, according to police. He was later found in a classroom and taken into custody.
Authorities searched Steele’s Chestnut Street home as part of an investigation into the threat, seizing a .45 caliber Sig Sauer firearm, ammunition, two air-soft rifles, a crossbow, prescription pills, marijuana, edible products, a scale, drug paraphernalia, and packaging, along with the cash, police said.
“I don’t know what was on his mind,” Clinton Police Chief Mark Laverdure said. “To verbalize on social media like that, you got to be concerned.”
There is no threat to the safety of the school or the students at that time, but Laverdure is left wondering about a motive.
“He got into minor trouble at school a couple days before,” he said. ” He turned a minor incident into a serious, serious situation. Thankfully somebody brought it to our attention.”
Steele was ordered held without bail. He is due back in court next week for a dangerousness hearing.
The Worcester District Attorney’s Office is assisting with an investigation.
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