On Friday Aug. 31, Saugerties Police received a complaint from the Saugerties School District concerning a Facebook posting in which an individual made a threat of violence against a school. The posting stated: “I wanna just go to the gd [god damn] school and shoot it up rn [right now] I don’t give a fuck if I got (sic) to jail.”
Saugerties Police initiated an investigation into the posting, determining the author was 18-year-old Alexander Scott McLain, a registered 10th grade student in the Onteora School District. Working with the Onteora School District superintendent, the Onteora High School District school resource officer, Saugerties Police school resource officer, and the Saugerties School District superintendent’s office, police were able to locate McLain, now residing in the village of Saugerties.
According to police, McLain was interviewed and admitted to making the post and several other posts, stating he was directing his anger toward Onteora High because of a recent communication he had received. Investigation by police established that McLain did not own any firearms himself.
Saugerties Police, with the assistance of the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office, continued to investigate the threat and on Saturday Sept. 1, McLain was arrested and charged with the felony of making a terroristic threat. Mclain was processed at Saugerties Police Headquarters and then arraigned in the Village of Saugerties Justice Court, where he was remanded to the Ulster County Jail in lieu of $25,000 cash bail or $75,000 bond. McLain is scheduled to return to Village of Saugerties Justice Court on Sept. 6 to answer his charge. A stay away order of protection was issued on behalf of the Onteora Central School District by the justice court.