Skidmore campus put on safety alert - Update man charged for making threats UPDATE sentenced to four years in prison

[MedicCook]

Skidmore campus put on safety alert

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Skidmore College officials are in the process of placing the college on a safety alert this evening.

State Police have been called to investigate a complaint made by the college, according to Skidmore spokesman Bob Kimmerle. He said the college is in the process of notifying students, faculty and staff of the investigation through an alert system.

The campus alerts consist of the date and description of an incident. Kimmerle would not comment on the nature of the complaint because it is under investigation.

A State Police investigator said to be working on the case could not be reached immediately.

Police had issued a radio bulletin at about 4:30 for police to be on the lookout for a man possibly on his way from Boston to Saratoga Springs. He had threatened to use an assault rifle at the college. Further details could not be verified late this afternoon.

Skidmore College Director of Security Dennis Conway said the college had not received any credible information stating that someone was on their way to attack the college.

http://www.poststar.com/articles/2007/05/15/news/breaking/doc464a43395aefd093976956.txt

[MedicCook]

Updated


Police: Man charged with making threat toward Skidmore

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Joseph Gaudrault, the Massachusetts man who allegedly left a threatening voicemail message on a machine at Skidmore College has been apprehended, police said.

New York State Police Senior Investigator John Brooks said Gaudrault was arrested at approximately 3:40 p.m. by officials with the Beverly, Mass. police department.

He's being charged as a fugitive from justice in Massachussetts and will likely face a felony charge of making a terroristic threat in New York State, Brooks said.

Gaudrault, a 1991 Skidmore graduate, was previously arrested for trespassing at the college in 2005, according to Dennis Conway, Skidmore's director of security.

http://www.poststar.com/articles/2007/05/16/news/breaking/doc464b693fa776e659131749.txt

[MedicCook]

Skidmore alum gets prison for campus threat

BALLSTON SPA -- A Skidmore College alumnus who threatened to kill people on campus last spring was sentenced to four years in prison today in Saratoga County Court.

Joseph Gaudrault, 43, admitted in January that he left a message on the college's voice mail system on May 11 and said he would "appear on campus and take out a lot of people with a rifle."

Gaudrault was arrested and brought to Saratoga County from his home in Beverly, Mass. He was charged with making a terrorist threat. The charge was created after 9/11 and carries a jail term of up to seven years.

John Hogan III, Gaudrault's lawyer, said he was sentenced in the context of recent campus violence, both at Virginia Tech last April when 33 people were killed; and the shooting deaths at Northern Illinois University in February.

In court Tuesday, Judge Jerry Scarano encouraged Gaudrault to take the medication he has been prescribed for mental illness. Scarano asked him if he stopped taking it because he is a Christian Scientist.

Gaudrault was hesitant and looked away from the judge before saying he preferred to remain silent.

Hogan said he hopes his client will get the help he needs in jail and said it has been "a long few years" for Gaudrault.

"He's a very nice guy when he's on his medication but he's not always on his medication," Hogan said.

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=674962&category=&BCCode=&newsdate=3/25/2008