Accused Cape Cod Plotter Eligible for Bail

Police on Cape Cod say they may have stopped a school shooting before it started when they arrested 18-year-old Ian Fotheringham of Falmouth earlier this month. His arrest on September 11 wasn’t the first time he’d drawn the attention of police, but it’s the first time the picture has come together of a young man heading down the well-worn path of Columbine fixation, white supremacist cosplay, and violent threats.

Investigators say Fotheringham had been making statements about wanting to “shoot up a school,” refurbishing firearms in his bedroom, and was spotted near Teaticket Elementary during recess clutching his phone against his chest as if he was filming the playground. His phone also put him at Mashpee High on at least two occasions when school wasn’t in session. Inside his home, police found a 3D printer large enough to create gun components, a notebook referencing the Columbine killers, and his phone carried images from the 1999 shooting. He also shared violent videos, talked about killing people and animals, and told staff at a mental health program that he wanted to shave his head, wear a trench coat, and strap on boots to “play the part” of a white supremacist shooter.

Despite all of this, a Barnstable District Court judge has now decided Fotheringham can be released. His bail was set at $2,500, with conditions that amount to house arrest. He’s ordered to remain at home except for legal and medical reasons and to continue mental health treatment. His return to school is subject to further motion, though parents of Falmouth students are already voicing their outrage at the thought. Many of them sat in court through two recesses, only to walk away crying when the judge ruled that the threats Fotheringham made weren’t considered a predicate offense for dangerousness.

Adding insult to injury for parents, Fotheringham’s attorney argued that the reports of him being on school property were wrong. She claimed he was at home caring for his sick mother on the day he was spotted outside Teaticket Elementary. Parents aren’t buying it, and frankly, neither am I. You don’t end up with Columbine photos on your phone, 3D-printed gun parts in your room, and a history of making threats because of a mix-up.

The uncomfortable truth is that this wasn’t some teenager testing boundaries. This was someone already deep in the Columbiner subculture, steeped in violent fantasy, and openly fantasizing about being the next trench-coated white supremacist to leave his mark in blood. Something was obviously being planned, and it wasn’t a charity brunch picnic.

The next court date is set for October 6, but for parents in Falmouth, that’s not much comfort. They’re left wondering why the system just turned loose someone who has already shown them exactly who he wants to be.

(Sources)

UPDATE: And he’s out on bail.