2004 Media Releases:

CAMDEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE
VINCENT P. SARUBBI, CAMDEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR
MEDIA   INFORMATION

May 7, 2004

Camden County Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi reported today that a 16-year-old male defendant from Lindenwold admitted in court today to Terroristic Threats, stating that he communicated to a friend that he intended to harm students at Lindenwold High School.

The third-degree charge carries a maximum sentence of two years' incarceration in a juvenile facility. Superior Court Judge Louis F. Hornstine ordered the defendant, whose name is being withheld because of his age, to remain in custody at the Camden County Youth Detention Center in Gloucester Township pending a hearing on Friday, May 14, 2004, at approximately 9 a.m. in Courtroom 23 of the Camden County Hall of Justice, 5th and Mickle streets, Camden. The juvenile, a student at the Camden County Technical School in Sicklerville, has been held at the youth detention center since his arrest on April 15.

Hornstine ordered that the juvenile be evaluated for possible placement in a residential or intensively supervised outpatient program and stated that he would decide final disposition of the case after those evaluations are complete.

The investigation found no indication that the juvenile had access to firearms or other weapons or that anyone else was involved.

Sarubbi reiterated his gratitude, as well as the gratitude of law enforcement and education officials and the public at large, to those students who informed school officials of the threat - which included a reference to the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado - and who cooperated in the investigation.

"Most regrettably," Sarubbi said, "we live in times where young people's threats, which would previously have been viewed as empty words, must be taken seriously. Law enforcement officials in Camden County must be ever vigilant and matters such as this must be promptly and vigorously investigated. We are thankful that, in this case, the threats were not acted upon and no one was harmed."