Former Hanover High School teacher charged with threatening to bring gun to school

HANOVER, Mass. — A 54-year-old former Hanover High School teacher, Kenneth Decie, was arraigned in Hingham District Court Wednesday, charged with threatening to take a firearm to school.

According to a police report, the incident took place on September 20 at Hanover High inside a private teacher pod area as Decie was complaining to his union rep about the disciplinary action the administration was taking against him.

One teacher told police Decie was agitated and she overheard him say, “When something like that happens, it makes me want to go home and get my rifle.”

The 17-year veteran teacher has since been fired.

He’s now charged with making a threat to commit a crime.

Hanover’s Police Chief Timothy Kane says a search of Decie’s Quincy home did not produce a firearm, but said the overheard threat could not be ignored.

“What you say actually matters, especially for an educator in a school setting,” Chief Kane said. “It’s criminal behavior. We take it very seriously. It’s a top priority of ours, to maintain the safety of our students. We will never look at something like that as something said in the heat of the moment.”

At Hanover High School, students found Decie’s comment alarming.

“In the past year, school shootings have been such a serious problem. And I feel like a comment like that can’t be taken lightly,” John Regan, a senior at the school, said.

“When you get heard saying something like that, if they don’t do anything about it, and something did happen, that’s really bad,” high school senior Matt Kisiel added.

Decie was originally charged with making terrorist threats, but at his arraignment, both sides agreed to change the charge to making a threat to commit a crime.

Decie’s lawyer said his client’s words were taken out of context.

“He regrets obviously saying what he said, it was not meant to be a threat in any way,” Defense Attorney Eric Goldman said.

Kenneth Decie was ordered to stay away from Hanover High School and to have no contact with certain school officials, including the teacher who overheard him.

He is due back in court in June.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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