June 12, 2001

WALKERSVILLE, Md. – A teen-ager accused of using the Internet to threaten two Santee girls after a deadly school shooting there has returned home from California after posting bail.

Patrick Andrew Smith, 18, was released from jail after posting $50,000, said Detective Gary Williams of the San Diego computer crimes unit. A jury trial is tentatively scheduled for July.

Smith declined comment outside his parents' home late Monday.

He was arrested March 9 and charged with sending threatening messages to two 15-year-old girls. One of the girls attended Santana High School, the scene of a school shooting earlier this year, in which two students were killed and 13 others injured.

In one message, Smith is accused of writing, "Don't go to school Friday. I liked you, but I'm finishing what Andy started, and this time it's going to work. Got it? OK?"

The message referred to Charles Andrew "Andy" Williams, the accused gunman in the Santana High School shooting. Police said there is no evidence Smith knew Williams, who previously lived in western Maryland.

Smith's attorneys have said the teen-ager was joking and suffers from bipolar disorder.