Capt. George Murtie said Tuesday that a 14-year-old Vermont resident and a juvenile from out of state are facing criminal charges. But he said he couldn’t provide further information.
Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George confirmed that the charges against the juvenile in Vermont are not public at this time. Murtie said the charges against the other suspect are being filed in that person’s state of residence, which he said he could not identify.
The investigation relied heavily on forensic analysis by the FBI, and the incident in Essex is part of an ongoing national probe into so-called swatting hoaxes, Murtie said.
Swatting is when someone calls emergency services to make or report fake threats in an effort to bring a large number of armed police to a specific address.
“We have verified that the incident was considered as a swatting incident, or a hoax, and there was not a legitimate threat to do harm to people or property at the high school,” Murtie said.
Murtie said the threats to Essex High School were not related to later threats in South Burlington that led to federal charges for a South Burlington High School student in May.
Having resolved the case is a great relief for police and residents in Essex, Murtie said, because many, including law enforcement, believed at the time that the threats were credible. For many it conjured memories of a shooting a decade earlier at Essex Elementary School, Murtie said.
The criminal charges are important because they send a message that swatting hoaxes have consequences and people who make false threats will be held to account, he added.
