BOWDOINHAM

The Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Department say they have charged a Bowdoinham man with terrorizing after he allegedly made threats against a community college in Auburn.

Police say 23-year-old Darren Lilly was arrested Monday at 5:30 p.m. at his Feldspar Lane home.

The arrest stems from information deputies received that Lilly “was in possession of numerous firearms and had made threats to shoot up Central Maine Community College in Auburn,” according to a press release.

According to Chief Deputy Brett Strout, people who know Lilly heard him make the threats verbally within the last week. Strout declined to elaborate, citing the need to protect witnesses. Investigators still don’t know the motive.

Deputies seized Lilly’s weapons, which included a mix of hand guns, rifles and shotguns from his home and two firearms from the car, including a weapon found in a musical instrument case that Strout said was lawful to possess.

The department has contacted the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to determine if one of the weapons seized — a sawed-off shotgun — is legal.

Lilly was charged with terrorizing, a Class C felony punishable by up to five years incarceration and a $5,000 fine.

Lilly was able to post $1,000 unsecured bond and was released with conditions restricting him from possessing firearms and barring him from the city of Auburn.

Strout said the bail commissioner set the bail based on certain criteria.

“In this instance, my deputies interviewed (Lilly), they took from him his weapons and he was cooperative, so they must have felt what was done was sufficient or reasonably sufficient,” Strout said.

While his agency was concerned enough to arrest Lilly, Strout said Lilly cooperated and that he retrieved the firearms for deputies.

“I don’t believe the neighbors have anything to worry about,” Strout said. “Those items have been removed and he does have some pretty strict bail conditions.”

Lilly does not appear to have a criminal record in Maine.

The sheriff’s department also contacted Auburn Police Department and Central Maine Community College as well as the Sagadahoc County District Attorney’s Office. Strout said police didn’t release information about the arrest until Tuesday morning in order to make sure these agencies were all informed of the situation.

CMCC President Scott Knapp said Auburn police told the college about Lilly’s threats and arrest Tuesday morning. CMCC quickly activated its emergency notification system, alerting faculty, staff and students about the threat via personal phones, campus phones, text, email and campus computers.

A separate email also went out to faculty and staff with a photo of Lilly attached.

The college has also paid for additional police protection from the Auburn Police Department.

CMCC remains open and its summer classes are operating on schedule.

Knapp said Lilly had been admitted to CMCC for the fall semester.

“Obviously, we’re revoking that admission,” he said.

He had no idea why Lilly might have wanted to threaten the community college.

Knapp said CMCC hasn’t been the focus of a threat in his 21 years as president.

“This is a first for me,” he said.

With only about 300 students on campus for summer and orientation programs, Knapp said for the most part the day was business as usual. All of the senior staff spent time in the hallways incase students had questions or concerns. One student was a little upset and went home but most students took news of the threat in stride.

Knowing that Lilly is not in custody, “I would say I have great concern about that,” Knapp said.

The college spends a lot of time preparing for an active shooter event and trains staff and students, according to Knapp.

“The reason we’re starting to do this is not just because this can happen at your college,” he said. “It can happen at your church, at your shopping center — everywhere humans converge. We need to be prepared for that so we put our people through this training.”

Knapp said the college is cooperating with police.

Sun Journal Staff Writer Lindsay Tice contributed to this story.

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