Thomas Frongillo, an 18-year-old Anna Maria College student has been accused of making threats against the college.
Frongillo was playing an online game when he allegedly typed out his plan to shoot up the school and indicated that he knew how to operate guns. The gaming company, Jagex Ltd. based in England, alerted police in Oxford who then contacted Paxton police.
"We put sanctions into place immediately banning him from campus," said Paula Green, spokeswoman for Anna Maria College. "We were notified this morning that this gentleman was being arrested, and we banned him from campus. Any kind of alleged threat or behaviors of this kind, we take them very seriously. We have no tolerance for them."
One of the Frongillo's classmates said that he was a normal, talkative student who expressed his opinions on topics that would interest him and never demonstrated any unusual behaviour.
Frongillo, a criminal justice student, was arrested, April 12, and pleaded not guilty to charges of threatening to commit a crime or to bomb or hijack. He has been released on a $50,000 bail set by the judge at Western Worcester District Court, East Brookfield.
He was also ordered to surrender his Firearms Identification Card and any other guns he might possess.
Defense attorney Michael Reno said that his client was just joking and never meant to carry out the attack. Instead, he said that Frongillo wants to be a police officer.
Frongillo's father termed this incident a terrible misunderstanding.
