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Deaf child allegedly terrorized by video death threats - Norwalk News - The Hour
An investigation conducted by officers in the Youth Bureau of the Norwalk Police Department into a death threat made to a 10-year-old deaf Norwalk girl led to the arrest of a deaf juvenile male by New York City police.
The male, an eighth-grader whose name and age is being withheld because he is a minor, allegedly used a video phone to threaten the life of a deaf Norwalk resident who is a student at New York School for the Deaf in Greenburg, N.Y. The girl's mother told police the deaf student and her friends use a video phone to communicate with one another via sign language.
The suspect, a resident of The Bronx, was charged by the 44th Precinct of the New York City Police Department with harassment and menacing on April 15.
Norwalk police began conducting the investigation on April 14 after the girl's mother called police to complain about the death threat.
The mother told police that she noticed her daughter was communicating via video phone with a person whose face was covered with a bandanna and was dressed in gray, black and white camouflage. The suspect allegedly told her daughter that he intended to kill her in school the next day and displayed what looked like a handgun during the video phone conversation.
When the mother intervened in the conversation, the suspect swore at her using sign language and hung up the phone, according to police.
The mother told police she had spoken with her daughter's friends, and they revealed the suspect attended another school in New York state, and he had obtained her daughter's phone number from a third-party, according to police.
Police said the caller ID on the video phone revealed the name of the suspect and an out-of-town phone number.
Investigating officers tried to obtain video phone records from Sorenson Communications, the phone service carrier, but the company declined to give the officers the requested information, according to police.
An officer made contact with the suspect using the initial information gleaned from the victim's cell phone and used an interpreter to speak with him, police said. The boy refused to give the officer his name, and said his parents were unavailable to speak with the officer, police said.
After receiving an order to disclose the phone information from Judge Richard Comerford of Stamford Superior Court, Sorenson Communications gave Norwalk officers information about the suspect.
Officers contacted the Greenburg Police Department because the New York School for the Deaf falls under its jurisdiction and advised them of the potential school violence incident.
Greenburg police were present at the school the next day. John Tiffany, the headmaster of the New York School for the Deaf, was also notified about the incident, and the school was put on lock- down.
Tiffany told police that the eighth-grade suspect had applied to New York School for the Deaf and was currently a student at St. Joseph's School for the Deaf. Tiffany also said the suspect was a resident of The Bronx, police said.
Norwalk police made contact with a New York City Police Department officer, and New York City officers were dispatched to the suspect's residence, police said.
New York City officers did not find a gun in the suspect's home, but they found a photo of the suspect wearing camouflage and holding what appeared to be a toy gun, police said. The boy admitted to previously having a toy gun and displaying it on the phone, but said he threw it away after it broke, police said.
The boy was arrested by New York City Police soon after the interview, police said.
An investigation conducted by officers in the Youth Bureau of the Norwalk Police Department into a death threat made to a 10-year-old deaf Norwalk girl led to the arrest of a deaf juvenile male by New York City police.
The male, an eighth-grader whose name and age is being withheld because he is a minor, allegedly used a video phone to threaten the life of a deaf Norwalk resident who is a student at New York School for the Deaf in Greenburg, N.Y. The girl's mother told police the deaf student and her friends use a video phone to communicate with one another via sign language.
The suspect, a resident of The Bronx, was charged by the 44th Precinct of the New York City Police Department with harassment and menacing on April 15.
Norwalk police began conducting the investigation on April 14 after the girl's mother called police to complain about the death threat.
The mother told police that she noticed her daughter was communicating via video phone with a person whose face was covered with a bandanna and was dressed in gray, black and white camouflage. The suspect allegedly told her daughter that he intended to kill her in school the next day and displayed what looked like a handgun during the video phone conversation.
When the mother intervened in the conversation, the suspect swore at her using sign language and hung up the phone, according to police.
The mother told police she had spoken with her daughter's friends, and they revealed the suspect attended another school in New York state, and he had obtained her daughter's phone number from a third-party, according to police.
Police said the caller ID on the video phone revealed the name of the suspect and an out-of-town phone number.
Investigating officers tried to obtain video phone records from Sorenson Communications, the phone service carrier, but the company declined to give the officers the requested information, according to police.
An officer made contact with the suspect using the initial information gleaned from the victim's cell phone and used an interpreter to speak with him, police said. The boy refused to give the officer his name, and said his parents were unavailable to speak with the officer, police said.
After receiving an order to disclose the phone information from Judge Richard Comerford of Stamford Superior Court, Sorenson Communications gave Norwalk officers information about the suspect.
Officers contacted the Greenburg Police Department because the New York School for the Deaf falls under its jurisdiction and advised them of the potential school violence incident.
Greenburg police were present at the school the next day. John Tiffany, the headmaster of the New York School for the Deaf, was also notified about the incident, and the school was put on lock- down.
Tiffany told police that the eighth-grade suspect had applied to New York School for the Deaf and was currently a student at St. Joseph's School for the Deaf. Tiffany also said the suspect was a resident of The Bronx, police said.
Norwalk police made contact with a New York City Police Department officer, and New York City officers were dispatched to the suspect's residence, police said.
New York City officers did not find a gun in the suspect's home, but they found a photo of the suspect wearing camouflage and holding what appeared to be a toy gun, police said. The boy admitted to previously having a toy gun and displaying it on the phone, but said he threw it away after it broke, police said.
The boy was arrested by New York City Police soon after the interview, police said.