Man Admits Threatening Portsmouth, New Hampshire, High School in Video

The Maine man who made threats to "shoot up" Portsmouth High School in April pleaded guilty and faces a potentially lengthy jail term.

U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young said Kyle Hendrickson, 25, pleaded guilty in federal court in Concord Monday to one count of interstate threatening communications and one count of possessing a firearm in a school zone.

Classes at all Portsmouth schools were canceled on April 12 after police became aware of a video posted on Snapchat by Kyle Hendrickson, 25, of Berwick. He was arrested the next day at his girlfriend's home in Portland, according to the complaint in the case issued by Jane Young, the U.S Attorney for the District of New Hampshire.

According to the complaint, the video showed Hendrickson sitting in the driver's side of a white 2014 Ford Explorer parked in front of Portsmouth High School. Hendrickson waves a pistol at a man in the passengers seat as the words "imma shoot up the school" appear.

Video made as a 'joke'

Hendrickson made the video after dropping his mother, Michelle Almon, off at the school where she works, the complaint states. School security video shows a car sitting in front of the school at approximately 11:10 a.m., according to the complaint.

The other man in the SUV, identified as Duncan O’Brien, told police that while he was "uncomfortable" with Hendrickson pointing the gun at him, he didn't think Hendrickson posed a threat to the school. O'Brien told investigators he was unaware the video was posted online.

Hendrickson later told police while he was being questioned that the video was made as a "joke", but did not offer further explanation. He told detectives he would not do "that" because he had a relative at the school.

Law enforcement later found an AR-15 rifle, a shotgun, camouflage body armor, a handgun holster, a red-dot sight, and numerous rounds of ammunition from Hendrickson’s vehicle. The handgun that Hendrickson used in the Snapchat video was also recovered near a Freeport, Maine, motel where Hendrickson had stayed with his girlfriend on the night of April 12, 2023.

Each charge has a possible sentence of up to five years in prison, up to three years of
supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000

U.S. District Court Judge Samantha Elliot scheduled sentencing for March 15, 2024.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via X (Twitter) @DanAlexanderNH