PORTLAND, Maine — Portsmouth High School in New Hampshire canceled classes Thursday following an alleged threat made about the school Wednesday evening.
Around 6 p.m. Wednesday, Portsmouth police received "a tip regarding a concerning video of a threat being made of a shooting that was going to occur at the Portsmouth High School," a news release from the Portsmouth Police Department said.
Police said the video showed a man in a vehicle in front of Portsmouth High School holding a gun.
On Friday, the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Hampshire, issued a release stating the video was posted to the social media platform Snapchat.
"The message on the video said, 'Imma shoot up the school,'" the release said.
According to the release, police contacted the superintendent of Portsmouth schools notifying him of the threat.
The suspect's vehicle was also seen outside in front of the high school at the time of the video on the school's surveillance footage, the attorney's office said.
The superintendent and police then made a mutual decision to cancel classes Thursday as a "proactive approach to the safety of [the] school community" while police continued to investigate.
Police said while investigating, the suspect in the video was identified as 25-year-old Kyle Hendrickson, who is reportedly known to frequent areas in seacoast and southern Maine.
Around 2 p.m. Thursday, Portsmouth police issued an update in the case, stating an arrest warrant was secured for Hendrickson, charging him with criminal threatening with a firearm (Class B).
"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," the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Hampshire said Friday. "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 April 12, 2023."
Portsmouth police said in the updated release that the investigation into Hendrickson's location led officers to a Portland home.
The Portsmouth Police Department partnered with Portland police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and brought Hendrickson into custody shortly before 2 p.m. Thursday, the updated release said.
"Hendrickson will be held as a Fugitive from Justice until he can be brought to New Hampshire to answer this charge," the updated release stated.
"The impact of closing schools today was not taken lightly, but this allowed the police department to focus on the investigation to identify and locate the suspect," Portsmouth police added.
Police said Portsmouth schools will continue holding classes as normal on Friday.
As of Friday, Hendrickson has been federally charged with transmitting in interstate commerce a threat to injure the person of another, the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Hampshire said.
Hendrickson faces up to a five-year prison sentence, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release.
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, the attorney's office said.