Newport Police Department Arrests and Charges Newport Man with Making Bomb Threat to North Country Union High School

NEWPORT — Chief Travis Bingham reports that Newport Police Department arrested and charged a Newport man that made threats he planted bombs at North Country Union High School in Newport on Thursday.

CYPHER AIKEN, AGE 25, OF NEWPORT, was arrested and charged with:

• Domestic Terrorism; Threatening a Civilian Population with Mass Destruction and Mass Killings

On Thursday, Aug. 28, at approximately 12:23 p.m., Newport Police were notified that an individual identified as AIKEN made a threat via text message saying that he planted bombs inside North County Union High School.

Police immediately notified school officials and a decision was made based on the information received to evacuate the high school. Other schools in Newport were also placed on lockdown out of an abundance of caution. The high school was searched with members of Newport Police Department and Maintenance staff. The other schools remained in lockdown until the suspect was taken into custody. Police officers were at those locations providing security while police were searching for the suspect. 

Police continued to search for AIKEN by checking his residence and pinging his cellphone, eventually locating him and taking him into custody at Shaw’s supermarket on Route 5 in Derby. Due to his threats of having bombs, the Vermont State Police Bomb Team was called in to Derby to search the vehicle AIKEN was driving for any potentially dangerous devices. 

It was eventually determined that AIKEN did not have any explosives. 

AIKEN was arrested and ordered held on $50,000 bail pending arraignment on Friday in Orleans District Court.

Newport Police would like to thank the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department, Vermont State Police, U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Customs Enforcement, the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicle Enforcement, the Vermont State Police Bomb Team, ATF, Vermont Fish and Game, Newport City Fire Department, Newport Ambulance Service, and the North Country Union High School for their assistance. 

“I want to thank the numerous law enforcement agencies and departments that assisted us with responding to this situation,” said Chief Bingham. “We take the safety of our schools extremely seriously, and we are always ready to protect our community from these kind of irresponsible and dangerous threats.”

These are allegations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty.