Man accused of threatening to 'shoot up' Lowell school

LOWELL, Mass. — A man was arrested after threatening to "shoot up" a Lowell elementary school.

Police said the department was contacted after school officials saw threats made to Pawtucket Memorial School and to children, made on a school web page. The post, made by 36-year-old Robert McDaniel, said the he had a rifle and threatened to "shoot up the school."

“It makes me feel crappy like any father would. Good thing he didn't do anything wrong I would feel a lot worse,” Bobby McDaniel, Robert’s father, told FOX25.

FOX25 found a public posts on Robert’s Facebook page that said "I don't need friends or a family. I have my best friend here, myself. [Expletive] you all! I will die happy."

“He's been drinking and doing drugs for 25 years. Should be in a program, no court can make him take medicine. It's against the law to make him take medicine unless they arrest him,” Robert’s father said.

Although it is school vacation week, there were more than three dozen children in the building for a program. Following a soft lockdown, the children were evacuated to another school.

Police found the suspect through his post and took him into custody. Following interviews, Robert McDaniel, 36, was arrested and charged with communicating a threat involving a firearm causing disruption of a school.

There is no indication that McDaniel has access to firearms and none were discovered.

Cox Media Group