Student, 14, Taken Into Custody After Loch Raven H.S. School Lockdown
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Police say they have a 14-year-old Loch Raven High School student in custody after the school was put on lock down Thursday.
Authorities investigated after the school resource officer was given a tip that a student had a gun in a backpack.
The student will remain in custody pending charges. Police located a pellet gun on the #LochRaven property. ^NL
— Baltimore County Police Department (@BaltCoPolice) February 15, 2018
The school resource officer approached the student, who then reportedly fled into another part of the school.
The officer was unable to confirm whether there was a gun in the backpack at that time, and the school was put on the lock down as police searched for the student.
[REPORTER: Could you hear the police outside the rooms?]
"We could see them with the big rifles. It was definitely scary," one student said.
Police were later able to take the student into custody, and they say they recovered a discarded pellet gun.
Student who know the 14-year-old say they don't know why he brought the pellet gun to school.
Mom and daughter react after lockdown at Loch Raven HS @cbsbaltimore pic.twitter.com/XjYaHGVXGk
— Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) February 15, 2018
[REPORTER: Were there any warning signs to something like this?]
"No, nobody knew about this," another student said. "It was just scared because, you know how yesterday was the Florida attack and stuff."
One student told WJZ the suspect made a vague threat a few days ago.
"A teacher opened up the door and like eight SWAT guys came in with like assault rifles and everything," senior Sebastian Jones said.
Jones said the suspect came into the classroom just after the school went into lock down.
"He started talking about how they were looking for him, so eventually, we got nervous enough that he let us search his bag and so we looked through it and there was nothing in there but we wanted to hold on to it, cause we were afraid--since he was already acting kind of strange," Jones added.
An argument ensued before authorities came into the classroom and arrested the 14-year-old.
Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz detailed some of the safety measures in place for the school district that ranks in the top 30 in the country in terms of size.
"Doors are all secure, we have cameras both inside and outside in every school, and importantly, that camera feed is accessible to every police officer in their laptop in their car," Kamenetz said.
No injuries were reported.
Follow @CBSBaltimore on Twitter and like WJZ-TV | CBS Baltimore on Facebook