CONCORD - A Maine man has been federally charged in connection with posting a video on SnapChat that threatened the Portsmouth High School on Wednesday, the U.S. Attorneys Office announced Friday.
Kyle Hendrickson, 25, no hometown given, was charged with transmitting in interstate commerce a threat to injure the person of another. A press release will be issued when an initial appearance in federal court is scheduled.
According to the charging documents, Hendrickson posted a video to his SnapChat account on Wednesday in which he brandished a handgun while in a vehicle outside of Portsmouth High School. The video includes a text overlay that reads "imma shoot up the school." School surveillance footage placed Hendrickson's vehicle outside the high school at the time of the video.
Hendrickson was arrested Thursday on state charges. A subsequent state search warrant of the vehicle yielded an AR-15 rifle, a shotgun, camouflage body armor, a handgun holster, a red-dot sight, and numerous rounds of ammunition. Investigators recovered another shotgun inside a residence associated with Hendrickson. Finally, a handgun that resembles the one used in the SnapChat video was recovered in a motel where Hendrickson had stayed on Wednesday.
The charge provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
The FBI investigation, Boston Division, and the Portsmouth Police Department led the investigation. The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Somersworth Police Department, the Portland (Maine) Police Department, and the Berwick (Maine) Police Department provided valuable assistance. Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles L. Rombeau is prosecuting the case.