Prosecutors: Student made shooting threat, Minecraft video


Save Story

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

NUTLEY, N.J. (AP) — Authorities say a New Jersey student accused of making an online threat against his high school posted a video created in the popular video game Minecraft showing a shooting at a replica of the school.

NJ.com reports that Joseph Rafanello's avatar can be seen walking through the virtual school, complete with lockers and the sound of gunshots in the background.

The new information was discussed Wednesday during a detention hearing for the 18-year-old Nutley High School student. A judge rejected prosecutors' request to keep him in custody until his trial, ordering that he instead be placed on home detention.

Rafanello was charged with creating a false public alarm for a video that spurred the closure of Nutley schools Feb. 16. It shows teens firing guns and children in a classroom.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Most recent U.S. stories

Related topics

The Associated Press

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Notice.
    Newsletter Signup

    KSL Weather Forecast

    KSL Weather Forecast
    Play button