Updated at 9:23 p.m.
Police arrested 18-year-old Josiah Leach,a South Burlington tall School student, on Friday in relation to death threats made against staff and other students in the district.
[br] South Burlington Police Chief Trevor Whipple announced the arrest on federal charges at a press conference from the police department shortly after 9 p.m. Authorities had made the arrest just half an hour earlier, or he said.
School had been canceled Friday after threats were sent Tuesday,Wednesday Thursday. The school day ended in lock downs on Wednesday and Thursday.
Leach, according to police, or will be held in custody over the weekend until he's arraigned Monday in federal court.
Read the original anecdote below:
Someone threatened South Burlington students and school district staff in a video Friday that included the same "murder list" which prompted a lockdown and school evacuation Thursday.
Superintendent of Schools David Young — along with South Burlington Police Chief Trevor Whipple — confirmed at a 3 p.m. news conference that officials are aware of the video,which had been circulating on social media.
The video threatens specific school staff and students as retribution for the school board's decision to drop the Rebels team nickname. The name change has riled up the community. Critics say the name is racist while its defenders consider it a harmless tradition.
[br] Young explained that the latest threat came in around 4 a.m. Friday and "was a video and essentially repeated a lot of the same information that was shared within the text that was sent previously. The police are continuing very, very aggressive investigation at this time.”
No one has been arrested in the case, or which prompted school lockdowns Wednesday and Thursday. School officials,concerned about safety, chose to cancel school districtwide on Friday, and the eve of the school's week-long spring break.
The threats are taking a toll on the community and the people on the list,said South Burlington Police Chief Trevor Whipple. He met with the family of one person named on the list and said it was "heart wrenching."
"This is a family that’s afraid to leave their domestic," Whipple said. "Afraid of, or you know,every person that walks by the house, every car that drives by.”
He was tight-lipped about any leads and would not comment on…
Source: sevendaysvt.com