Prosecutors on Thursday dropped a case against a Falmouth teenager who’d been charged with allegedly threatening to shoot up a school, according to authorities and legal filings.
Cape and Islands District Attorney Robert J. Galibois’s office dropped a sole count of threatening to use a deadly weapon in a public building that had been pending against Ian Fotheringham, 18, officials said.
“As the investigation unfolded, the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office and the Falmouth Police Department learned of a discrepancy which made further prosecution in the District Court no longer available, and the Commonwealth” dropped the charge, said a statement issued by Galibois’s office.
“This matter remains an ongoing investigation and future developments will be released when publicly available,” the statement continued.
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A request for comment was sent to Fotheringham’s lawyer Friday morning. Prosecutors didn’t elaborate on the discrepancy referenced in their statement.
Police in late August received “concerning information” suggesting Fotheringham “wanted to shoot up a school,” authorities have said.
Fotheringham did not specify which school, Galibois’s office said.
A police report filed in court said Fotheringham allegedly told a mental health worker at an area YMCA that he “wanted to shoot up a school,” and also that he was in a white supremacist group and was “refurbishing” guns in his room.
Police conducted a consensual search of Fotheringham’s residence but did not find any guns at the time, officials said.
In early September, police were alerted to “a suspicious male,” later identified as Fotheringham, in the vicinity of Teaticket Elementary School in East Falmouth, court records state.
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“Based on their interaction with the male, school safety monitors were very concerned that this male was ‘casing’ the school,” prosecutors said.
Authorities said further investigation turned up photos on Fotheringham’s phone of the school shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999.
“A search of Mr. Fotheringham’s home pursuant to a search warrant led to the recovery of a large 3D printer that is capable of producing a firearm,” prosecutors said.
Krysten Condon, an attorney for Fotheringham, said previously via email that he “denies all allegations. The allegations amount to speculation and conjecture. He has not even made threats.”
At a hearing on Sept. 17, prior to the charge being dropped, Fotheringham was found competent to stand trial and was released on $2,500 bail.
Fotheringham was examined that day by a court clinician in Barnstable District Court, where he pleaded not guilty to the charge.
He was placed at the time on house arrest while the case was pending, allowing him to leave only to attend medical appointments or legal meetings.
Fotheringham was also ordered at the time to maintain his mental health treatment as a condition of his release, records show.
The court clinician indicated that Fotheringham has been diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and “as a result, he is very adamant about ‘doing damage’ and ‘making an impact in the world,’” prosecutors wrote in court papers.
According to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Duchenne causes muscle weakness in shoulders, upper arms, hips and thighs that can make it difficult for patients to climb stairs, maintain balance and rise up from a chair.
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Authorities also found notebooks belonging to Fotheringham, one of which “included quotes from the journal/notebook of the Columbine shooters” and “his thoughts on his plan, including ‘Killing myself is horrifying but I wouldn’t do it’” like the Columbine assailants.
Condon, however, had argued in court papers that the mere statements did not to rise to the level of criminal conduct.
“While the defendant’s statements and actions may have caused general concern, they do not rise to the level of threat necessary to constitute a crime,” Condon wrote in court papers.
Material from prior Globe stories was used in this report.
Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com.