Man charged in shooting plot seeks youthful-offender status

MONTPELIER, Vt. – Attorneys for an 18-year-old man accused of planning a mass shooting at his former high school in Vermont have requested the court grant him youthful-offender status.

A motion filed Monday by the Office of the Defender General on behalf of Jack Sawyer asks the court to move charges of criminal threatening and carrying a deadly weapon to family court.

Sawyer has pleaded not guilty. Four felony charges, including three attempted-murder charges, were dismissed in April following a state Supreme Court ruling.

Police say Sawyer planned a shooting at Fair Haven Union High School but was arrested before carrying it out.

Deputy defender general Marshall Pahl says Sawyer is an adolescent who could benefit from a system that rehabilitates offenders.

Rutland County state’s attorney Rose Kennedy says the state opposes the move.