On September 17, 2024, Sheriff Filicetti announces the arrest of a female juvenile on one count of Making a Threat of Mass Harm (B misdemeanor). The arrest stems from a joint investigation by the Niagara County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigation Bureau and the City of Lockport Police Detective Bureau, following a social media threat to Newfane and Lockport School Districts.
A person is guilty of making a threat of mass harm when, with the intent to intimidate a group of people or to create public alarm, a person threatens serious physical injury or death at a school, place of worship, business, government building, or other place of assembly, and causes a reasonable expectation or fear of serious physical injury or death, or causes the evacuation or lockdown of a school, place of worship, business, government building, or other place of assembly.
The juvenile's case is likely to be adjudicated in family court due to her age.
Female Student Charged with Making Online Terroristic Threat Toward Two Niagara County Schools