hackettstown lockdown news conference

Hackettstown schools Superintendent David Mango, flanked by Warren County Prosecutor Richard Burke and other law enforcement officials, speaks today at a news conference. A photo is displayed of Dae Woong Lee, a South Korean armed forces member who allegedly made the calls that spurred a lockdown of area schools last year.

(Express-Times Photo | TIM WYNKOOP)

A photo of Dae Woong Lee is displayed at a news conference this morning in Hackettstown. The 20-year-old member of the South Korean armed forces is charged with making threatening phone calls last year that led to the lock-down of several schools in the Warren County town.

A 20-year-old South Korean man whose threatening phone calls last year led to the lockdown of several schools in Hackettstown faces up to five years in prison in his home nation if convicted, authorities said today.

Culminating the investigation that has carried on since the March 2012 incident, Warren County Prosecutor

announced today that

Dae Woong Lee

was charged by South Korean officials with obstruction of business. The charge carries a penalty of up to five years in jail and a fine of 15 million South Korean won, the equivalent of roughly $15,000.

Burke said there are no plans to extradite Lee to the United States for prosecution, noting that the charges he faces in South Korea would be similar to what would be brought against him here. Although formally charged, Lee was not in police custody today in South Korea, Burke said.

Lee is a

, though his military status is unknown, Burke said.

Burke heralded the arrest and charging of Lee as a clear deterrent to these types of crimes, noting that "in Warren County, we're not going to tolerate it."

"We're not going to allow threats to our community and to our children go unpunished," Burke said.

He added that in his time as prosecutor, he had never seen anything similar to this case.

"It's certainly unique to me," said Burke, who took office in March 2012.

Social media connection

Warren County dispatcher Bennett Rymon speaks today at a news conference. Rymon handled the 911 call in which threatening statements were made against Hackettstown schools last year.

On March 26, 2012, the Warren County emergency dispatch center received two calls from a man claiming to be Kevin McGowan, 19, and threatening to kill students, including one specific student, with an AK-47 rifle, Burke said.

An Express-Times reporter who was allowed in the communications center while the episode unfolded overheard the caller indicate he lived at 4 Warren St. in Hackettstown, a nonexistent address.

According to 911 transcripts, the man referred to the alleged AK-47 in his possession as his "beautiful friend." He said he was from Sweden and throughout the calls sang along with songs by hip-hop artists Eminem, Wiz Khalifa and Kanye West.

The man said he was in the woods near Hackettstown High School. The school district went into lockdown and local, state and county authorities mobilized before determining there was no "imminent threat" and allowing students to go home, the prosecutor's office said.

Affected were Centenary College; Hackettstown High, Middle and Hatchery Hill Elementary schools; and St. Mary's Catholic School.

Burke revealed today that the specifically targeted student, a female, had previously conversed with Lee via social media. At the time, authorities said Lee identified the student as his ex-girlfriend, who he claimed was a student at Hackettstown High School and had broken up with him five months earlier.

Any further connection between Lee and the area is unknown, as is any hint at a motive, Burke said. Burke added that to his knowledge, Lee never visited the Hackettstown area.

Authorities would not specify what social medium may have been used in the alleged conversations between Lee and the female. Burke said there are no plans to charge her.

Tracing the calls

Due to the high-tech nature of the investigation, it was turned over to New Jersey State Police, who brought in the Middle Atlantic-Great Lakes Organized Crime Law Enforcement Network, the prosecutor's office said. At the federal level, the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office also joined the probe, Burke said.

Also assisting in the case were Easton police, New York police and several local departments in Wisconsin. Burke declined to comment on each department's role in the investigation.



It was determined the calls came from outside the United States and Homeland Security used contacts in South Korea to further the investigation, the prosecutor's office said. Officials today would not specify what type of phone Lee allegedly used to make the calls but said they believe he used an application, which they did not name, in an effort to render the calls untraceable.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency located and, on Jan. 27, interviewed a suspect, Burke said. He was arrested June 3 by HSI Seoul Special Agents and subsequently charged.

Hackettstown schools Superintendent David Mango said today he was pleased to see charges being brought against Lee and valued the "learning process" that the incident presented.



"As educators, so often we impress upon parents and our students about consequences to actions," Mango said. "So, I'm very happy there will be some consequence to this gentleman's bad choice."

Assistant Managing Editor Tony Rhodin and staff writer Matthew Bultman contributed to this report.