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Charges dropped against Falmouth 18-year-old accused of planning school shooting
The "suspicious" male seen at a local elementary school was actually not Fotheringham, according to his lawyer.
Prosecutors dropped the charges against an 18-year-old accused of threatening to “shoot up” a Cape Cod school and showing up at an elementary school last month, officials said.
Ian Fotheringham, of Falmouth, was initially charged with threatened use of a deadly weapon in a public building. In late August, Fotheringham was reported to police after he “indicated that he wanted to shoot up a school,” prosecutors had alleged.
However, officials “learned of a discrepancy which made further prosecution in the District Court no longer available, and the Commonwealth entered a nolle prosequi in the case supported by an affidavit by the prosecutor assigned to the case,” Cape and Islands District Attorney Robert Galibois announced on Thursday, meaning the DA is no longer pursing the charges against Fotheringham.
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Galibois said “this matter” is an open and ongoing investigation, and any updates will be shared with the public.
Krysten Condon, who represented Fotheringham in court, thanked the court and the prosecution in a statement to Boston.com, noting that her client “has maintained his innocence since the beginning of this investigation.”
“There has been significant exaggeration of the facts and evidence across social media that have resulted in unfair accusations against not only my client but also the judicial system, the local school board, and local legislatures,” Condon wrote.
Initially, Fotheringham was also identified as the “suspicious male” who was allegedly walking in the woods near a playground at the back of Teaticket Elementary School Sept. 3, the DA said. Safety personnel at the school “were very concerned that this male was ‘casing’ the school,” the DA said at the time.
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However, that was false, Condon said in the statement.
“As members of the community, Ian’s parents are also concerned about the unknown individual that does not match Ian’s description, that was at Teaticket Elementary,” Condon wrote. “This person is still at large and the parents hope that the Falmouth Police will continue to investigate the actual individual who was on school property.”
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