MANCHESTER, NH — A Manchester student was taken into custody by police after he allegedly pointed what turned out to be an air gun out of a moving vehicle window on Thursday, which prompted a “secure campus” mode for Memorial High School, Manchester School of Technology, Jewett Street School and Southside Middle School.
A Manchester teacher alerted a school resource officer about a student with a gun. The teacher stated a male student was seated in the back seat of a vehicle while driving eastbound on Weston Road around 10:15 a.m. The teacher stated the student was with other unidentified people inside of the car before he lost sight of him while he and his class walked on the sidewalk of Weston Road.
The teacher returned to Memorial High School to alert the school resource officer. The student was eventually located inside of the school, but he was not armed with the air soft gun. However, an air soft gun was located in the trunk of a vehicle belonging to another student a short time later.
The 16-year-old student was taken into custody around 11:45 a.m.and transported to police headquarters. The charges are pending at this time.
Memorial High School was placed in lock down within moments of the incident being reported, and as a precaution, three nearby schools – Manchester School of Technology, Southside Middle School, and Jewett Street Elementary School – were put into secure campus status.
Police identified and located all of the vehicle’s occupants and were able to determine that the suspected weapon was an Airsoft gun found in the trunk of the car in question. The Airsoft gun never entered the school building.
“We are extremely pleased with the response of the Manchester Police Department, as well as the faculty and staff at all of the affected schools who made the safety of our students their first priority while handing this situation,” said school superintendent Debra Livingston.
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