CLEARFIELD – A DuBois teen was sentenced Monday for threatening a classmate and possessing guns on the grounds of the DuBois Area High School.
Ryan Daniel Mancuso, 18, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of possession of weapon on school property and terroristic threats before President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman, who sentenced him to 20 days to 40 days in the county jail with five years probation, according to a court employee.
The criminal complaint in this case details how Mancuso, a student at the school, was involved in a verbal confrontation with another student at the end of English class on Sept. 19 at 10:20 a.m.
The teacher notified the administration that she “felt uneasy” about the confrontation and was worried another incident would happen in the hall or elsewhere, according to the affidavit.
School officials tried to locate either student, but both had already left at their normal dismissal time of 11:05 a.m. They came up with a safety plan and decided to meet with both students the next day.
The following morning, they located the victim who told them, “Ryan Mancuso is crazy.” He went on to say, Mancuso threatened to shoot him and choke him out.
He further stated that after English class the previous day, Mancuso approached him and started calling him names. He said he’d fight the student who responded with “okay.” They got separated.
Later Mancuso called the victim after school again threatening him saying he would shoot and strangle him.
He also stated that Mancuso followed his vehicle, but was accusing the victim of following his car.
The victim mentioned he had seen guns in the back of Mancuso’s car.
Another student had videotaped the victim receiving the call and he provided that to police. Text messages from Mancuso in which Mancuso was asking him to meet up to fight were also given to police.
When Mancuso was questioned by school officials that morning, he claimed the victim was following him because Mancuso was reportedly hanging out with the victim’s ex-girlfriend. Mancuso said the victim called him, accused him of following the victim and threatened to fight him.
After class, Mancuso said the victim threatened him again and was waiting in the parking lot to jump him.
Mancuso admitted that he called the victim after school and threatened to shoot him, but stated he knows he shouldn’t have said that.
He also stated that he had a squirrel gun and ammunition in his car. There was possibly a second gun in the car as well, he told them.
That day the school traffic and classes were held “in a different manner” while Mancuso was taken into custody and the car seized by authorities.
The vehicle was searched by police who found two rifles, several boxes of ammunition and a utility knife.