At a dangerousness hearing today, a judge ruled the law does not allow her to hold an 18-year-old Falmouth man accused of making threats about shooting up a school as a danger to the community.
A Barnstable District Court judge ruled that Ian Fotheringham can go free if he posts a $2,500 bail and wears a GPS monitoring device.
Falmouth police reports indicate Ian Fotheringham, 18, threatened to fire on students at Falmouth High School last year. He was charged with a crime, but the case was dismissed.
Several Falmouth parents who appeared at the hearing, which was delayed several times as a court clinician spoke about Fotheringham’s mental health, said they are outraged at the decision.
“He turned around and laughed at us when he got his decision,” said Dianna Wilson, a Falmouth parent. “He doesn’t care. He’s not afraid of what’s going to happen. We’re afraid, because those are our kids, those are our babies.”
Officials said he is a former Falmouth high school student.
The school said they are taking safety precautions, including training for emergency situations, working with police officers, and utilizing security cameras.
Police said Fotheringham has been identified as a man spotted by a teacher walking in a wooded area behind Teaticket Elementary School on September 3. The teacher reported Fotheringham appeared to be taking pictures or videos of the school. When approached by a school security officer, Fotheringham left the area.
The teenager’s lawyer said it’s a case of mistaken identity, and the teacher described the man as being 5-foot-11 with brown hair. She says Fotheringham is 5-foot-5 and has black hair.
“All of things they’re saying that tie Ian to Teaticket school were not found, and we know he was not there, your honor, because he was home that day vomiting, sick with his mother, who is a stay at home mother, who was with him all day,” argued Fotheringham’s defense attorney Krysten Condon.
Police searched the teenager’s home last month and did not find any illegal guns, but did find a 3D printer capable of making guns, as well as pictures of the Columbine High School shooting on his phone.
Court documents indicate Fotheringham also has a journal referencing the 1999 shooting, and has told mental health counselors he’d like to shoot up a school and then take his own life to be remembered.
“He’s an 18-year-old young man, and he wants to be feared by people according to his own statements that he’s been making for some time as your honor knows, and he has taken now concrete steps into making his fantasies a reality,” said prosecutor Tom Flanagan.
“My kids will not be in school tomorrow, and I don’t know when they will go back,” said Sydney Varano, a Falmouth parent.
Fotheringham’s parents tell 7NEWS they can can post bail; officials say they are waiting for a GPS tracking device so he can be monitored at home.
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