UPPER MERION - A 19-year-old Bridgeport male who allegedly sent instant messages to high school friends in the past two weeks praising the mass killer at Virginia Tech appeared at Upper Merion Area High School Tuesday.
His appearance at the school ended with his being detained by Upper Merion police, a search of his grandmother's home in Bridgeport and a referral to Norristown State Hospital for psychiatric evaluation.
Thomas Musetti, a 2006 graduate of the high school, and an unidentified 2005 male graduate, came to the school at 435 Crossfield Road around 7:45 a.m., said Upper Merion School District Superintendent Melissa Jamula.
Parents of the high school students receiving the instant messages had contacted high school officials 10 days ago, but more obviously threatening instant messages sent to other students on Sunday caused one Upper Merion Area High School parent to contact police sometime on Monday.
At an emergency faculty meeting of about 120 high school teachers at 7:15 a.m. Tuesday, copies of Musetti's photograph were shared with the staff, Principal Tom Megless said.
Shortly after the staff meeting ended, Musetti was spotted by a staff member in a high school hallway.
"A male science teacher who recognized Musetti called the two men into his classroom," Megless said. "I don't want to identify the teacher. He has worked in the district for more than 10 years."
Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr. said at a 4 p.m. press conference with Upper Merion Police Chief Ronald Fonock that the instant messages "referred to the killings at Columbine High School in Colorado and the recent mass killings at Virginia Tech."