Local

Police respond to report of gun at Highlands High School

NATRONA HEIGHTS, Pa. — Two juveniles were arrested Thursday afternoon after police responded to a report of a person with a gun at Highlands High School.

According to school district spokeswoman Misty Chybrzynski, school security personnel saw two boys outside the school with what appeared to be a gun. They approached the boys, one of whom is not a Highlands student, and determined he had a plastic BB gun.

School security guards took the gun from the boy and the school was placed on lock-down, with students remaining in classrooms.

The boys, both 16, were arrested by Harrison Township police.

The incident happened just as the school was conducting a planned early dismissal at 12:25 p.m.

No injuries were reported. Chybrzynski said the BB gun never was taken inside the school.

Harrison police said both boys will be charged as juveniles and their identities, therefore, would not be released. Police said they had not yet decided exactly what charges to file.

The BB gun, police said, was not loaded nor did the boys plan to do anything with the gun while on school property. Instead, it appeared to be a case of bad judgement.

According to police, the boy with the BB gun had been expelled from school and was waiting for his friend in the student parking lot at the early dismissal time.

When school security guards spotted the gun, police said he tried to hide it in the waistband of his pants, causing the guards to assume the gun could be real.

Chybrzynski praised both the guards and police for their response.

“They all did a great job. They handled the situation exactly as they should have. We were able to lock down the school and no students were in any danger.”

This article was written by Channel 11's news exchange partners at TribLIVE.