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FBI arrests man believed to have threatened Steamboat school

Matt Stensland
Nicolaus House Demetrian
101913_WhitemanFollow-mug

— The former student suspected of emailing death threats to The Lowell Whiteman School near Steamboat Springs has been arrested.

Routt County Undersheriff Ray Birch said Friday night that 27-year-old Nicolaus House Demetrian was apprehended by FBI agents while he was having a drink at a bar in Des Moines, Iowa.

Birch said they were able to track Demetrian using his cellphone, and officers staked out his suspected location.



Birch said Demetrian is a Denver resident and a 2005 Lowell Whiteman graduate. The private boarding school has 53 students this year, and about 30 of them live on the campus.

The Sheriff’s Office was contacted about the threats by the private school Wednesday afternoon, and the school’s boarding students and several staff members were evacuated to off-campus housing. The school was closed Thursday and Friday.



Birch did not want to discuss the specific wording of the threat. He said that it was emailed to the administrative office and that Demetrian threatened to “cause significant damage to the school and to inflict serious injury and death to school employees.”

Birch said he didn’t know what prompted the threat.

Birch said police searched Demetrian’s Denver home Thursday, but no one was there. Birch said they thought Demetrian knew he was wanted and fled.

A federal felony charge has been filed against Demetrian in U.S. District Court, Birch said. The charge alleges that Demetrian threatened to kill an individual and destroy property. The charge carries a penalty of as many as 10 years in prison.

In Routt County, Birch said, Demetrian’s arrest warrant charges him with harassment and interfering with staff, faculty or students of an educational institution. Both charges are misdemeanors.

The search warrant and arrest warrant out of Routt County have been sealed by a judge.

Birch said before the arrest that Lowell Whiteman officials were planning to meet with parents during the weekend. The Sheriff’s Office was on a heightened state of alert and deputies were doing extra patrols at the school, Birch said.

While attending Lowell Whiteman, Demetrian was a member of the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club. He competed in freestyle skiing.

After attending Lowell Whiteman, Demetrian graduated from the University of Denver, where he studied real estate and construction management. According to Demetrian’s Google Plus page, he is an intern at a commercial real estate firm and a waiter at a restaurant.

Birch said Demetrian would be transferred to a federal facility in Grand Junction, and the Sheriff’s Office would make arrangements to have Demetrian brought to Routt County Court.

To reach Matt Stensland, call 970-871-4247, email mstensland@SteamboatToday.com or follow him on Twitter @SBTStensland


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