|
Jackson Fleming, 23, was arrested Friday on suspicion of sending
an online threat through a social media application concerning
the academy, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern
District of Indiana said in a news release. Fleming, of
Chesterton, Indiana, was charged with one count of transmitting
a threat in interstate communication, the release said.
Jonathan Bedi, Fleming's attorney, wrote in an email that “we
intend to fight these charges in court vigorously.”
“No one, including Jack, should be judged by a mere accusation
from the government,” Bedi wrote. "We are prepared to mount the
strongest possible defense, and I am confident that when the
complete facts emerge, Jack will be vindicated.”
Fleming attended the academy from June 30, 2021, to Jan. 5,
2024, the academy confirmed.
The threatening post triggered a lockdown at the academy
Thursday. It prompted authorities to respond to what turned out
to be a false report of a gunman. And during the investigation,
a midshipman who had mistaken security personnel as a threat was
shot in the shoulder in the ensuing confusion.
The academy said in a statement last week there was no active
shooter threat.
The wounded midshipman was released from the hospital Friday. A
member of the naval security force also received minor injuries,
the academy said, and was treated at a hospital before being
released.
The false report was made amid anxiety over a spate of recent
violence at schools nationwide, including the assassination of
conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a Utah college. A shooting
at a high school in Denver last week left two students injured
and the gunman dead, while a shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic
church left two children from an affiliated school dead and 17
injured over two weeks ago.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights
reserved |
|
