Update: Teen charged with threatening Dundalk High released on bail

First published Friday, Sept. 13, 2024 in the Dundalk Eagle.

The 18-year-old who police say threatened Dundalk High School has been released on bond after being held in jail overnight. Judge Krystin Richardson  ordered his release, saying he presented a low risk to the community. He does not have a criminal history, judiciary records show.

His trial is scheduled for Nov. 13 in Essex.

In court documents, a police officer identified as R.M. Mitchell Jr. says Dundalk High School’s administration called him to the main office. There, a student showed him an Instagram post that included a threat against the school, posted about 40 minutes earlier, according to the officer.

Police started investigating the threat around 9:31 a.m., a police department press release stated.

The Instagram account also had pictures of a person who Dundalk High School administrator Ashleigh Hickman identified as a former student, Montaz Andrew Napier-Wright. 

Since police weren’t sure where Napier-Wright was, the court documents say, the principal and police decided to place Dundalk High School and neighboring Sollers Point Technical High School under a lockout, where no one can enter or exit the school without the administration’s approval. That was around 10:05 a.m., Dundalk High School Principal Paul Satterfield wrote in message to community members shared on Facebook. Baltimore County Public Schools confirmed the content of the message.

Mitchell, the officer, said in court documents that he went to Napier-Wright’s address and asked Napier-Wright about the posts. At first, the officer wrote, Napier-Wright claimed that several friends had access to the account and one of them must have posted it. Later, the teen admitted to posting the comments, according to the officer. 

Asked why he posted the comments, Napier-Wright told the officer that he was “trolling” and thought it would be funny, according to the court documents.  Napier-Wright’s parent allowed the officer to search the house for guns. The officer did not find any.

Once the officer arrested Napier-Wright, the court documents state, Dundalk and Sollers Point High Schools lifted their lockout orders. That was around 10:45 a.m., according to Principal Paul Satterfield’s letter.

If convicted, Napier-Wright could face time in prison and a hefty fine. His first charge, disturbing school operations, carries a fine up to $2,500 and/or a prison sentence up to six months. His second charge, threatening mass violence, carries a fine of up to $10,000 and/or up to 10 years in prison.