Lansdale mother sentenced to lengthy probation, community service for threatening to shoot up North Penn High School

A Lansdale mother who threatened to shoot up North Penn High School, causing security to lock down the school for a period of time in an incident described as “nerve-wracking” under testimony, was sentenced to community service and a lengthy probation for her crimes, after pleading no contest in Montgomery County court Thursday.

Cieria Alexis Wynder aka Cieria Parsons, 33, of the 400 block of East Main Street, was sentenced to 6 years of probation and 80 hours of community service by Common Pleas Judge Thomas M. DelRicci. The community service must be completed within two years, with 40 hours to be completed during her first year of supervision, according to court records.

She must also complete anger management classes. If she has no violations, then her final year of probation can be terminated, according to court orders.

According to The Mercury, DelRicci also warned Wynder that if she violates her latest sentence in any way, she faces state prison.

“You’ve run out of chances. You cannot have any more criminal activity,” DelRicci said.

According to testimony, Wynder, whose children attended the high school, created fear among the school community.

Wynder was originally charged in April 2025 by Towamencin Township Police with felony terroristic threats causing a serious public inconvenience and misdemeanor charges of terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another person and harassment and disorderly conduct, and summary disorderly conduct, for an incident that occurred the morning of April 1 at the school at 1340 Valley Forge Road.

A plea of "nolo contendere" (Latin for "I do not wish to contend") is a legal plea in a criminal case where the defendant accepts a criminal penalty without admitting guilt. Wynder admitted through the plea that prosecutors had sufficient evidence to convict her of the charges at a trial.

According to The Mercury, a no-contest plea is considered a conviction under state law.

“Six years for something I didn’t do?” Wynder said as she exited the courtroom, according to The Mercury.

In 2022, Wynder was sentenced to one year probation after pleading guilty to misdemeanor criminal mischief for pointing a gun in a friend's face and then smashing up a friend's vehicle with a bat after the two got into an argument over a social media post in Upper Gwynedd.

“When things don’t go the way you want them to, you react,” DelRicci told Wynder at her conviction, according to The Mercury. “You have to accept the fact you have to change. You can’t keep acting the way you’ve been acting. You need to make better decisions.”

Wynder’s community service period was given, according to The Mercury, “to make up for the trauma and serious public inconvenience she caused at the school.”

“Overall, it was nerve-wracking in the moment. The next couple of days, the kids were tense. The kids were a little bit more on edge,” Assistant Principal Megan Schoppe testified, according to the report. “It really surprised me to hear a statement like that. I was scared.”

Brandon Rhone, coordinator for emergency management at the school, testified the lockout prevented anyone from leaving or entering the school, which caused alarm for parents, as the lockout lasted around 45 minutes.

“Please accept my appreciation for what you did that day and every day for keeping our kids safe. God’s work. I appreciate it,” DelRicci addressed Schoppe and Rhone, according to The Mercury.

According to reports, in her 2022 conviction, Wynder had to forfeit her gun and complete an anger management counseling program.

“I guess it didn’t work well,” said DelRicci, according to reports. “She hears what she wants to hear and she reacts. She reacts first, that’s the problem.”

Police were dispatched to the high school at 11:16 a.m. on April 1 for a report of a female parent causing a disturbance at the front concourse of the school, according to the affidavit. The concourse is a large open area that leads to classrooms and main offices at the school.

While police were en route, Montgomery County dispatch advised police that the woman had made threats to shoot up the school.

Upon arrival, police met with security, who could not confirm if the woman, identified as Wynder, left school property. After a canvass of the school, it was determined Wynder had left the premises, police said.

Security officers relayed to police that, prior to their arrival, they were in the concourse area with another principal, when Wynder came out of the front office yelling and screaming. She was visibly upset, police said, and attempted to walk down a hallway, further into the school, but was stopped by security.

Security and school officials attempted to talk to Wynder about what she was upset about, but they were unsuccessful in de-escalating the situation, and she continued to yell and scream in the presence of students and staff, police said.

Wynder was told to leave school property, and she complied, police said.

While exiting, three staff members heard Wynder say she was going to “come back and shoot up the school.”

Wynder was walking to the parking lot, and staff members heard her say a second time, “I am coming back to shoot up this school.”

Security was so alarmed by Wynder’s statements that they called 911, according to the complaint.

Due to Wynder’s actions, administration placed the school into a lockout status at 11:28 a.m., preventing movement to and from classrooms, police said.

The lockout was lifted at 12:06 p.m. once it was confirmed that Wynder was at her home, police said.

Wynder is a single mother of two teenagers who is a caretaker to her mother, who saved taxpayers money by pleading no contest, according to her attorney Frank Walsh of Audubon.

Assistant District Attorney Jediah Grobstein praised the school’s response to Wynder’s threats.

All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.