Are teens armed and dangerous at school? Perhaps not in the case of these two recent news stories. But officers need to be aware that danger and the unknown may be waiting at your next call at a school.
For complete information on how to handle incidents like these at schools, read the Police1 report produced in May 2004: 10 Safety Reminders for Handling School and Student-Related Calls
Three Teens With Weapons Arrested While Making Movie at Middle School
The Associated Press
RICHMOND, R.I. (AP) -- Three teenagers who were carrying weapons outside Chariho Middle School and arrested at gunpoint, told officers they were just trying to make a movie.
State troopers and local police officers rushed to the school Tuesday afternoon, after receiving a 911 call reporting that three youths were walking on school grounds wearing black clothing, black gloves and dark sunglasses. They were also carrying firearms, which were later determined to be unloaded.
Police locked down all the buildings at the complex of regional schools, which were not in session. They confronted the teens in a parking lot and ordered them to the ground at gunpoint, police said. The teens followed the commands and were handcuffed without incident.
Police found two air rifles, a paint gun and two single-shot cap guns wrapped in black electrical paint. No ammunition was found with the guns, police said.
Detectives later learned the teens had not threatened anyone and were attempting to make a movie, apparently a spinoff of the action film, “The Matrix,” in which the characters wear long black coats and dark sunglasses. Police found a video camcorder.
The boys -- two 15-year-olds and a 16-year-old -- were charged with possession of a firearm by a minor and possession of a firearm on school grounds. Their names were not released.
Police also checked their homes for other firearms or incriminating evidence, but none was found. The teens were released to their parents.
The students told police they never thought about the potential consequences of their actions.
Authorities Dismiss School Rampage Allegations: Locker Items Were “Inappropriate”
The Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Summit county authorities have dropped allegations that two high-school sophomores were planning a Columbine-style school shooting rampage in May.
In a plea arrangement, one youth pleaded guilty to felony distribution of marijuana and a second student to a misdemeanor drug count in exchange for dropping charges of threatening death and injury.
The 15-year-old South Summit High School students remain in custody, pending sentencing in juvenile court.
The students were suspended May 19 from school after a sheriff’s deputy began investigating allegations that they were dealing drugs.
A search of a locker they commonly used didn’t turn up any drugs, but did yield a stack of papers containing violent drawings and hateful scrawling against other students, faculty and staff -- some of them specifically named.
Sheriff’s deputies found a “rudimentary tactical plan,” which included the entrances and exits for their high school, amid hundreds of pages of violent images allegedly showing the two shooting and raping teachers and classmates.
Summit County Attorney Robert Adkins called the locker items “inappropriate,” but said they weren’t enough to lead to criminal charges. “The criminal law punishes after the fact. What they intended in the future, we can’t speculate.
The allegations shocked the 1,379-person town of Kamas, where the school is located. Now that they’ve been dropped, some say police blew them out of proportion to begin with.
Summit County Sheriff Dave Edmunds defended authorities, saying they had to take precautions to make sure everyone was safe.
“We had probable cause,” he said. “The writings and drawings and other things found in the locker were very disturbing.”