Nashua Charter School Hit With Threat Scare Monday; Juvenile In Newburyport MA Arrested On Charges

NASHUA, NH — A juvenile from Massachusetts was arrested on Wednesday, accused of making threats against a New Hampshire public charter school on Monday.

Students at the Riverwood Academy Chartered Public School on West Hollis Street were kept home Tuesday because of the threat. The FBI and Newburyport, Massachusetts, police arrested the juvenile on Wednesday. The child was arraigned in Lawrence Juvenile Court on one count of bomb threat-hijack threat and one count of bomb threat-hijack threat with serious public alarm.

Michael Keefe-Feldman, the chief of communications for District Attorney Paul Tucker of the Essex MA County District Attorney’s Office, said the incident remains under investigation, but because the case involves a juvenile, no further information would be available.

Sgt. John Cinelli, the public information officer and communications division supervisor for the Nashua Police Department, said the department assisted with the investigation, but Nashua police would not file charges since Essex County was handling the incident.

The threat, according to sources, was made on Monday, prompting the school to close on Tuesday as a precaution.

Riverwood Academy Chartered Public School is a K-8 tuition-free public charter school. Originally known as the MicroSociety Academy, the school changed its name in August of this year, according to a post on Patch.

Neither Amy Bottomley, the head of the school, nor Grace Greenaway, the outreach and development coordinator for Riverwood Academy, returned an email seeking comment on Tuesday after Patch learned students were kept home from school due to a threat against the school.

No comments were posted on the school’s Facebook page about the incident.

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