LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP – A 15-year-old male Lawrence High School student who allegedly brought a loaded handgun to school was apprehended today, Dec. 8, and is facing weapons offenses, according to the Lawrence Township Police Department.
School administrators were alerted at about 8:30 a.m. that a student may have been in possession of a weapon, police said.
Lawrence Township Police Officer Steve Austin, who is the School Resource Officer, and school administrators found the student in a classroom and recovered a loaded handgun. The student was immediately taken into custody without incident.
The boy, whose name is being withheld because he is a juvenile, is facing charges of possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, possession of a firearm on school grounds and possession of a defaced weapon, police said.
The serial number on the gun was filed off so it cannot be traced.
The high school was placed in lockdown status for about 90 minutes while the Lawrence Township Police Department, the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office and the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office conducted an investigation.
A K-9 police dog was brought into the high school to sniff all student bookbags, but no other weapons were found, police said. The exterior of the high school and the surrounding area was searched, but nothing was found.
As of this afternoon, the boy who was removed from the high school was being held at the Lawrence Township Police Department, pending charges.