TEEN’S POSTS CAUSE ALARM, 2 ARRESTS
High schooler praised Columbine killers, father hid firearms, police say
A Saugerties High School senior and his father have been arrested on weapons charges after the teen, in social media postings, appeared to praise the Columbine High School killers and expressed being “full of rage,” and the older man admitted hiding firearms away from their house, the Saugerties Police Department said Wednesday.
Additional guns, that were homemade, were found in the house, police said.
Connor Chargois, 18, of 5 Sawyerkill Terrace in the village of Saugerties, was charged Tuesday with the felony of criminal possession of a weapon and could face additional charges, police said, and Bruce Chargois, 58, of the same address, was charged with the same felony, as well as the misdemeanor of obstructing governmental administration.
Police said their investigation began on Feb. 21, when Saugerties High School alerted them to social media postings that praised Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who killed 12 students, a teacher and themselves in April 1999 at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.
“I envy Eric and Dylan,” one post said, according to police. “It must’ve been so f—ing fun. They had the right f—ing idea. I’m so full of rage . ... Nothing f—ing matters anymore.”
Police said another post stated: “I feel as though I’m not the type of person you’d want to call your friend, but I firmly believe that you do want to call me your enemy. Just remem-
“This investigation is an example of how community members, school district administrators and law-enforcement authorities can effectively work together when everyday people become involved.” — Joseph Sinagra, police chief
ber: when the sh-t hits the fan, there won’t be any time for mercy.”
Police were alerted about the postings exactly a week after 17 people were killed in a mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla., and the announcement of the Saugerties arrests
comes on the heels of the community’s police chief, Joseph Sinagra, saying he favors teachers carrying guns in schools, provided they are properly licensed and trained.
Saugerties police said they traced the social media postings to Connor Chargois with the help of the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office and state police, and that the teen later admitted authoring the posts.
Both the teen and his father denied owning firearms and said there were none in the house, but those statements were not consistent with what the investigation had found, police said.
Bruce Chargois later admitted there had been firearms in the home and that he removed them immediately after his first interview by investigators, police said. They said the father then took police to his place of business on Glasco Turnpike in Saugerties and showed them five hidden firearms. The weapons included “a fully automatic 9mm Uzi and an AR-15 assault rifle,” the Saugerties Police Department said in a press release.
Saugerties police and federal agents, armed with a warrant, then searched
the Sawyerkill Terrace residence and found ammunition of varying calibers, homemade knives, machine-fabricated gun parts, a prototype of a firearm that Connor Chargois admitted he had been manufacturing, and a number of completed homemade firearms with both .22- and 9mm-caliber capacities, police said.
After being arraigned in Saugerties Village Court, Bruce Chargois was released on his own recognizance and Connor was sent to the Ulster County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail. That bail has since been posted, police said.
Police also said an order of protection has been issued against Connor Chargois on behalf of the Saugerties school district.
“This investigation is an
example of how community members, school district administrators and law-enforcement authorities can effectively work together when everyday people become involved,” Sinagra said in a prepared statement. “Had it not been for the initial reporting of this event by the individuals ... [who saw] the original post, who knows what the end result could have been?”
Saugerties school district Superintendent Seth Turner, also in a prepared statement, said: “In this situation, the mantra ‘If you see something, say something’ worked. An anonymous tip was shared with a teacher, who brought it to the attention of the school administration, who brought it to the school resource officer.”
“In this situation, the mantra ‘If you see something, say something’ worked. An anonymous tip was shared with a teacher, who brought it to the attention of the school administration, who brought it to the school resource officer.” — Saugerties school district Superintendent Seth Turner