Man Arrested For Threat Posed No Danger, School Says

Concerns about a South Jersey man who threatened to "shoot up" Eastern Regional High School were unfounded, but the school district was unable to get this information to the Voorhees Police Department before 18-year-old Jacob Finkelstein was arrested, Superintendent Dr. Harold Melleby Jr. said in a letter posted on the school district’s website.

The incident began on Feb. 13, when Eastern Regional High School Principal Robert M. Tull Jr. received an email from a parent whose daughter was afraid to go to school, according to the letter. The district reached out to the student, who said she was part of a group chat and directed them to another student, who was in possession of the chat.

That student provided a copy of the chat to the district, but said she neither heard or read any threats from Finkelstein. A third student also said she never heard or read any threats from Finkelstein, but believed he may have intended to “shoot up” the school after a friend told her Finkelstein had left class early the day before. This third student was the one who started the chat about Finkelstein.

Following the interviews and an investigation by the school district, the district determined there was no credible threat from Finkelstein. By the time they reached this conclusion, Finkelstein had already been arrested after information was provided to the Voorhees Police Department by “another source.”

This source wasn’t named in the letter, but during a school safety forum at Voorhees Middle School on Feb. 26, officials said that information was provided by Voorhees Councilwoman Michelle Nocito.

Finkelstein was ultimately charged with one count of second-degree false public alarm and one count of third degree terroristic threats. He is currently on house arrest.

The investigation of the case is ongoing. Voorhees police told the Courier Post that “the standards for police to make an arrest … are probable cause, not gossip.”

To read the full letter, click here and download the “Parent Letter 3/2/18.”

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