Former Burrillville man charged with threat of mass casualty incident at Gillette Stadium
by BRIAN CRANDALL, NBC 10 NEWS
A former Burrillville man is charged by federal authorities with making threats to the annual Army-Navy football game held at Gillette Stadium last December and to Bryant University.
Andrew Buchanan, 36, was arrested in Arizona last week and is set to be returned to Rhode Island to face the charges.
Buchanan, according to family and court documents, has a long history of mental illness.
Federal prosecutors, in newly unsealed court documents, state the FBI got a tip the day before the Army-Navy game about a possible threat of a mass casualty event at the stadium in Foxboro.
The people who reported the threat say it came from Buchanan, who had been making threats against them for years.
Federal authorities claim Buchanan’s family members in Burrillville told local police that Buchanan was talking about being on the news and a mass casualty event at the Gillette Stadium.
The next week, authorities claim Buchanan called Bryant University, threatening to shoot up the campus unless he was given a million dollars.
That same day, he allegedly called Burrillville Police, threatening an employee there.
Court documents state it appears Buchanan made the calls from California.
Family members told authorities they were concerned for Buchanan’s health, that he’d been diagnosed with schizophrenia a dozen years ago.
And they hadn’t seen him since 2021, when police removed him from their Burrillville home.
He’s been homeless since, living out west.
Buchanan’s mother, Suzanne, told NBC 10 News in a statement, “I am so sad to hear his story is going public, but if it will create awareness for others supporting mental health then ok. He really is mentally ill.”
“Thankfully he is under custody for actions he has little empathy or understanding for the frightening threats he has made. This is the reality of living with a family member who has mental health challenges,” Suzanne Buchanan wrote. “We have watched Andrew’s condition deteriorate over the years. Yes, he needs to be incarcerated, thankfully he did not act on those threats. He needs to be treated for his mental health and not just criminally.”
“We have been in survival mode for a dozen years,” she added, with concern that Andrew is being sent back to Rhode Island.
“We too have heard from him with numerous threats. We are frightened for ourselves, family friends, coworkers and the community, to learn he is being sent back to Rhode Island to be tried!! What happens when he falls through the cracks again. He will Be Local!!!!!”
She hopes the focus will be on mental health.
Buchanan was in the Rhode Island National Guard from 2008 to 2013, when he discharged.
A National Guard spokesman told NBC10 Buchanan was “separated” from the service under what the military calls “honorable conditions” but that Buchanan was cited for “acts or patterns of misconduct.”
He served a non-combat tour in Kuwait during his time in the Guard.
Federal authorities say he also left threatening voicemails with the Guard last December.