Student is arrested for threatening principal

A Weiser High School student accused of threatening the principal with gun violence was arraigned on Monday in Washington County Magistrate Court.
 The 19-year-old student, identified as Nathan Bray, was arrested after the incident on Friday afternoon by Weiser police. He was held in custody until Monday’s arraignment.
 Magistrate Judge David Eames set Bray’s bond at $50,000, an unusually high amount for a misdemeanor charge, noting that the allegations surrounding the threat were serious and the community must be protected. 
 He also ordered that Bray, in the event he is able to post bond, is not to get within 1,000 feet of Weiser High School or any other school. 
 A no-contact order prohibits him from getting within 1,000 feet of principal Dave Davies. He also would be required to wear a GPS device so his location could be monitored.
 The judge entered a not guilty plea on Bray’s behalf and appointed a public defender to take on his case. A misdemeanor is punishable by up to six months in the county jail and a $1,000 fine.
 According to a statement from the school district, Bray entered the high school office after school on Friday and asked the secretary to deliver a note to Davies. 
 The note indicated that Bray was unhappy with the principal and threatened to return to the high school with “guns a-blazing.”
 Bray was not in possession of any weapons at the time he passed the note. 
 The high school administration detained Bray before he could board his school bus and brought him to the office. The Weiser Police Department was called and dispatched an officer, officials said.
 Bray was arrested on suspicion of threatening violence upon school grounds, a misdemeanor. He was suspended pending the completion of the investigation, district officials said.
 City prosecutor Josh Dalton said Bray’s threat was directed at the school principal, but it could be interpreted to include violence against other staff and students. 
 He requested Bray’s bond be set at $25,000, which was doubled by the judge.
 He said Bray appears to be living with friends. He has attended six high schools and is on an individual education plan at Weiser High School.
 At Monday’s arraignment, public defense attorney Matthew Bardsley said the alleged threat that Bray made against the WHS principal was a response to being bullied at the school.  
 He said Bray “overreacted” with his actions and requested the bond amount be set at $2,500.
 Bray, who was arraigned from the Washington County Jail via a video teleconference, said he doesn’t have any weapons. 
 The judge told him he should talk to his attorney about his case. No date for a jury trial was set.
 Overgaard said the high school staff met before school on Monday so that the high school administration could brief them on the incident and how to answer questions from students. 
 Parents and students were notified over the weekend of the incident with the school’s messaging system, which sent out a pre-recorded message to parents’ phones. 
 The district also posted information about the incident on the school district website.

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