PAYNESVILLE, Minn. — An 18-year-old Paynesville Area High School student was arrested after police say he talked about “shooting up” the school and named three staff members and a student as targets.
Matthew Paul Herr-Ramirez was arrested Monday, Oct. 17, at his home in Grove City, Minnesota, according to the criminal complaint filed in Stearns County District Court. He is charged with five counts of felony threats of violence.
He made his first court appearance Wednesday morning, Oct. 19. He was assigned a public defender, and his next appearance is an omnibus hearing scheduled for Nov. 2.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Herr-Ramirez remained in custody in the Stearns County Jail on $200,000 bail without conditions and $100,000 bail with conditions, including staying a reasonable distance from the school.
According to the criminal complaint, Paynesville police officers responded Monday evening to a complaint of a threat made earlier in the day at Paynesville High School.
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Officers spoke with several students who heard the suspect make threats about shooting people at school, according to the criminal complaint, and interviewed three teenage witnesses who reported that Herr-Ramirez had talked about individuals he was going to shoot at school and when he was going to do it. He had also made threats on Oct. 14, according to the complaint.
Two of the witnesses told law enforcement that Herr-Ramirez also allegedly showed them and others pictures of a pistol on his cellphone and named two staff members he wanted to shoot. The other witness also alleged that Herr-Ramirez said he would continue shooting random students and staff after shooting the individuals he specifically named.
According to the complaint, law enforcement found an airsoft gun — a type of pellet gun — on Herr-Ramirez when he was arrested.
A message left for the superintendent of the Paynesville Area School District was not immediately returned.
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