SAXONBURG — A Knoch High School student accused of making online threats last week was ordered held for court at a preliminary hearing Wednesday.

District Judge Sue Haggerty found there was sufficient evidence to hold Jason M. Bowen, 18, of Penn Township for trial on charges of risking a catastrophe, terroristic threats, possession of a prohibited offensive weapon and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Middlesex Township police officer Collin Lawson, the lone witness to testify, read the written statement the teen gave to police Jan. 7 — the day after the alleged threat surfaced.

“I posted a video on Snapchat of me firing a gun with the caption 'Training for Prom Walk,'” Bowen wrote.

The video showed the defendant firing repeated rounds from a semi-automatic rifle.

In addition to the video, police allege Bowen switched out a photo of grieving parents on a front-page story that reported on the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting in Newtown, Conn.

That photo, in which the defendant is accused of inserting a photo of himself giving a thumbs-up hand gesture regarding the massacre, was posted on his Instagram account last year, according to court documents.

Twenty first-graders and six educators were killed in the Dec. 14, 2012, massacre. A 20-year-old former student was the shooter, and he killed himself as police arrived at the school.

Lawson said police notified the South Butler School District of the suspected threats and district officials placed the school on modified lockdown Jan. 7.

On cross-examination by Bowen's attorney, David Shrager of Pittsburgh, the officer acknowledged that he did not know who made the video of the teen firing the gun with the caption on it.

Lawson said the defendant did not own the rifle, which police later recovered at another person's home. He also admitted that the teen stated in his interview with police that he did not intend to act on the alleged threat.

Police took Bowen into custody at 1:48 a.m. Jan. 7 at his family's home in the 100 block of Church Road near the border of Penn and Middlesex townships.

A search of the teen's room turned up a set of brass knuckles and a container and glass pipe with suspected marijuana residue.

Following testimony, Shrager asked Haggerty to dismiss the most serious charge, risking a catastrophe, which is a felony.

“There was no catastrophe,” he said. “Nothing happened. There's no indication that my client intended to act.”

He claimed there was “no credible threat” and characterized the teen's social media postings as a “highly inappropriate joke.”

Prosecutor Russ Karl, a county assistant district attorney, countered with his own argument.

“He posted, 'This is a preview to prom walk,'” Karl said of Bowen. “That is saying, 'I'm going to do it. He can't now say, 'Oh, I was only joking.'”

In a separate argument, Shrager asked Haggerty to reduce Bowen's bail or allow his client's release on house arrest. He noted that the teen had undergone a mental health evaluation by a court-approved psychologist following his arrest.

Citing the evaluation, Shrager said the teen posed no threat to the community.

Karl saw it differently.

“In the recommendation,” he said of the evaluation, “it does not say he's not a threat to the community.”

Bowen's actions placed the entire community in fear, Karl said.

“He made a bad adult decision,” the prosecutor said, “and now there needs to be consequences for that decision.”

Haggerty kept the bail in place.

“I definitely am not comfortable at this point changing anything,” she said, “because nowhere in this mental health evaluation does it say he's not a threat.”