FALMOUTH, MASS. (WHDH) - An 18-year-old Falmouth man left court in Barnstable on Wednesday. Ian Fotheringham is accused of making threats about a school shooting. A judge ruled Tuesday the law doesn’t allow her to hold without bail as a danger to the community.
The Falmouth School Committee and school superintendent were confronted by angry parents Tuesday night after a suspect accused of making threats appeared in court earlier that day.
Superintendent Lori Duerr avoided and did not answer questions from parents upset because the teenager police say threatened to shoot a local school, 18-year-old Ian Fotheringham of Falmouth, was set to be released on bond.
Parents expressed anger at both the court’s decision to release Fotheringham and by the way school officials handled information about the threats, saying they didn’t know what happened until a week later, when prosecutors announced the teen’s arrest.
“Communication has long been an issue,” said parent Amanda McGonicle. “This was an opportunity to show us that you’re ready to communicate and she dropped the ball big time.”
At a court hearing Tuesday, a Barnstable District Court judge ruled that Ian Fotheringham can go free if he posts a $2,500 bail and wears a GPS monitoring device.
Police searched the teenager’s home last month and did not find any illegal guns, but did find a 3D printer capable of making guns, as well as pictures of the Columbine High School shooting on his phone.
Court documents indicate Fotheringham also has a journal referencing the 1999 shooting, and has told mental health counselors he’d like to shoot up a school and then take his own life to be remembered.
Police said Fotheringham has been identified as a man spotted by a teacher walking in a wooded area behind Teaticket Elementary School on September 3. The teacher reported Fotheringham appeared to be taking pictures or videos of the school. When approached by a school security officer, Fotheringham left the area.
The teenager’s lawyer said it’s a case of mistaken identity, and the teacher described the man as being 5-foot-11 with brown hair. She says Fotheringham is 5-foot-5 and has black hair.
“All of things they’re saying that tie Ian to Teaticket school were not found, and we know he was not there, your honor, because he was home that day vomiting, sick with his mother, who is a stay at home mother, who was with him all day,” Fotheringham’s defense attorney Krysten Condon said in court.
The school said they are taking safety precautions, including training for emergency situations, and utilizing security cameras. In an email, Duerr promised parents that Falmouth police officers will be present at each of the town’s elementary schools for at least the next two weeks.
Fotheringham’s parents told 7NEWS they can can post bail; officials say they are waiting for a GPS tracking device so he can be monitored at home.
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