Hitt

HODGESVILLE – An Upshur County man faces a felony charge after allegedly making threats against his parents and an Upshur County school’s students on the cross-platform communication app Discord.

Andrew Devon Hitt, 24, is charged with making threats of terrorist acts, a felony. He is currently being held at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $250,000 10% cash bond.

According to the criminal complaint filed by Cpl. Samuel W. Shahan with the West Virginia State Police, on May 5, Shahan received screenshots from an FBI agency in Florida that showed messages sent by the screen name “Chicken Jockey SMD Scott.”

In the messages, the complaint states that the sender wrote, “I could even kill my parents and smear their blood all over the walls,” “I live near a school” and “I have had thoughts of how easy it would be to snipe those kids off one by one from my yard.”

On May 6, the FBI informed Shahan that the messages had been sent over Discord by the user biggie1._42404# and that they believed Hitt was the owner of the account, the complaint states.

Shahan said in the complaint that he spoke with Hitt on May 6 and, after being read his rights, Hitt confirmed that the account belonged to him and acknowledged that he had sent those messages.

If convicted, Hitt could be confined in a state correctional facility for not less than one year nor more than three years, or be fined from $5,000 up to $25,000, or both.