Duluth man pleads guilty in school threat case, gets veteran law leniency

Richard Neault has pleaded guilty in the school threat case that rattled Laura MacArthur Elementary School last fall, and his punishment will be shaped by a Minnesota law that can steer eligible veterans into treatment-focused court supervision instead of a standard sentence.

The case began around 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, when Duluth police said they took a report of a man threatening to shoot the windows of Laura MacArthur Elementary School on West 6th Street. Officers responded quickly, executed a search warrant at Neault’s home in the 5500 block of West 6th Street, and said they seized a shotgun, an SKS assault rifle and ammunition.

The school district moved immediately to calm families and tighten security. Duluth Public Schools said it was working closely with the Duluth Police Department and placed an officer at the school as an added precaution. In a family message, the district said it had been informed by law enforcement that Neault had been released on bail and said it was working to make sure the school was as safe as possible.

That release came on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, after school let out, according to local reporting. The timing underscored how quickly the case shifted from a public-safety alarm to a legal process with consequences that may not look like those in an ordinary felony case.

Neault is now required to complete South St. Louis County Veterans Treatment Court, a specialty court allowed under Minnesota Statute 609.1056 for some eligible offenses. The law lets counties or judicial districts supervise probation through a veterans treatment court that connects participants to treatment and rehabilitation services in a nonadversarial setting.

An Extreme Risk Protection Order was also obtained, barring Neault from owning, using or buying guns. Police said all of his weapons had been taken.

The case stands out in Duluth because it combined a school threat, firearms and a defendant whose military background may change how the court handles accountability. Laura MacArthur Elementary sits in a neighborhood where families were forced to think about the threat in real time, and the legal resolution now asks whether treatment-based supervision is a proportionate response to the fear that spread through the school community.