GRANVILLE -- A Granville man faces a misdemeanor criminal charge for allegedly emailing a gun dealer about possible plans to shoot “school children, firemen and little old ladies” with a rifle he was trying to purchase.
Walter Hammond, 55, of Route 149 was charged with second-degree aggravated harassment after a gun dealer he was corresponding with became concerned about a statement he made in an email about a gun sale, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
Hammond was planning to purchase a rifle through a dealer in Pennsylvania, and was frustrated about the length of time a background check was taking, sheriff’s Investigator Tony LeClaire said.
About a month had passed and the federal background check had not been completed, so in a recent email to the dealer with whom he was working to get the gun, Hammond allegedly wrote that the situation was “nonsense” and for some reason added, “I may be planning to murders of school children, firemen and little old ladies” with the gun.
“It was a flippant remark but it was enough to alarm him (the dealer) and he contacted police,” LeClaire said.
Sheriff’s officers looked into the comment, and after interviewing Hammond and his family, found no evidence he planned to harm anyone, LeClaire said.
“We’re confident there was no credible threat with him,” the investigator said.
Hammond told the gun dealer he was a hunter and owns a number of firearms, but LeClaire said police did not have a basis to confiscate his weapons based on the aggravated harassment charge.
If a person is convicted of certain crimes, or if an order of protection is issued, their guns can be seized, but LeClaire said his office checked with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and found that there was no standing to take Hammond’s guns.
Hammond was issued an appearance ticket for prosecution in Granville Town Court. A call to his home was not returned Friday afternoon
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