PROVIDENCE – A former Burrillville man has been charged by the FBI with threatening to create a mass casualty event at Gillette Stadium in December, as well as threatening to, “shoot up,” a local college campus.
Andrew Buchanan, 38 was arrested on Wednesday, July 31 in Tucson, Ariz. on one felony count of interstate threatening communications, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and $250,000 in fines.
Buchanan is awaiting extradition to Rhode Island for the incidents, which included threats reportedly made by cell phone before the Army-Navy game in December regarding the Foxboro, Mass. stadium. According to a criminal complaint, the FBI received a tip that Buchanan told a family member they would see him on the news following a mass casualty event at the game.
A few days after the football game, a student admissions employee from Bryant University reported a call in which Buchanan allegedly threatened to shoot up the campus unless he received $1 million. That same day, authorities say he made a call to the Burrillville Police Department, threatening an employee there.
Court documents reportedly show that Buchanan had a long history of mental illness, and family members told federal authorities he’d been diagnosed with schizophrenia. The family said they haven’t seen him since 2021, when police removed him from their Burrillville home. He is reported to have been homeless and living out west since.
Buchanan previously served in the Rhode Island National Guard, and federal authorities say he also left threatening voicemails with the military branch last December.
