A Newport man was arrested Thursday after allegedly making bomb threats against North Country Union High School that prompted an evacuation and lockdown of area schools.
Cypher Aiken, listed as age 25 by Newport police, was charged with domestic terrorism and threatening a civilian population with mass destruction and mass killings, according to Chief Travis Bingham.
Aiken’s social media page states that he is former swimming instructor and a native of Coventry, a Northeast Kingdom town. The page also claims he attended John Burroughs High School, a private, college-prep day school in the St. Louis area.
In a letter sent to families, the North Country Supervisory Union said Aiken is a former employee of the district, and officials considered the threat against NCUHS to be credible, the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center, a state security agency, reports.
Newport Police were notified at approximately 12:23 p.m. Thursday that Aiken had made a threat via text message claiming he planted bombs inside North Country Union High School.
Police immediately notified school officials, who decided to evacuate the high school based on the threat. Other Newport schools were placed on lockdown as a precaution, with police officers providing security while authorities searched for the suspect.
The high school was searched by Newport Police Department officers and maintenance staff. Other schools remained in lockdown until Aiken was taken into custody.
Police located Aiken at Shaw’s supermarket on Route 5 in Derby after checking his residence and pinging his cellphone. Due to his threats of having bombs, the Vermont State Police Bomb Team searched the vehicle Aiken was driving for potentially dangerous devices.
Investigators determined Aiken did not have any explosives.
Aiken was ordered held on $50,000 bail pending arraignment Friday in Orleans District Court.
Multiple agencies assisted in the response, including Orleans County Sheriff’s Department, Vermont State Police, U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Customs Enforcement, Vermont Department of Motor Vehicle Enforcement, Vermont State Police Bomb Team, ATF, Vermont Fish and Game, Newport City Fire Department, Newport Ambulance Service, and North Country Union High School.
“I want to thank the numerous law enforcement agencies and departments that assisted us with responding to this situation,” Bingham said. “We take the safety of our schools extremely seriously, and we are always ready to protect our community from these kind of irresponsible and dangerous threats.”
VDC contributed some information to this news story.
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Categories: Public Safety
It’s rare for someone to be caught doing this destructive and disruptive behavior. Serious prison time is warranted in this case to keep this cretin bottled up for a while AND to serve as a deterrent to others.
He wasn’t the shiniest apple in the bushel Rich, he texted the threat which gave them his phone # so they were able to ping his phone! Good job on the P.D. part for a quick end to it!!
Classic overreaction by police. Som simple security measures would prevent this in the first place!
RFK Jr has investigated shootings and has found that the people doing the shootings were on anti-depressants which causes them to be violent!