New judgment against Vermont teen accused in school shooting plot

A court judgment was announced Friday for the teen accused of plotting to shoot up a Vermont high school.

Late Friday afternoon, Rutland County State's Attorney Rosemary Kennedy announced that a judge has issued a penalty for Jack Sawyer for possessing a weapon.

Kennedy's office released a statement saying a judge ruled Sawyer would be in the state's Youthful Offender program for carrying a dangerous weapon.

Sawyer was arrested in February 2018 after police investigators uncovered an alleged plot to attack Fair Haven Union High School. The case made national headlines.

But the most serious charges against Sawyer were dropped because at the time, the state had no laws covering a plot to attack a school.

When the state's youthful offender law was expanded last summer to include people ages 18 to 22, Sawyer was one of the first to go into that program.

That meant we heard nothing else about his case until now.

The state's attorney says Sawyer will be placed in an out-of-state residential treatment facility. He will be supervised by the Department of Corrections and the Department for Children and Families until he turns 22.

WCAX News reached out to the state's attorney to get more answers. But her office says they won't be commenting further. That's not surprising given that youthful offender cases are not supposed to be discussed at all outside court.

Kennedy noted they got a limited waiver of confidentiality to inform the public in this case.