West Allegheny student in police custody after police find AR-15 in his vehicle
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A West Allegheny High School student is in police custody and facing charges after an AR-15 was found in his car, school district officials said.
Ja'shon Spencer, 18, is charged with possession of a weapon on school property, corruption of minors and other firearms-related counts.
In a letter sent to school district families on Tuesday, administrators said Spencer reported that the gun was in the vehicle while being questioned about an unrelated issue.
A school resource officer first questioned Spencer because he smelled of marijuana, according to the criminal complaint. When Spencer's probation officer arrived at the school, the criminal complaint said the officer found the car in the parking lot. A teenage girl was inside, along with "a small baggie of marijuana sitting on the side of the driver's seat," police said.
The girl is not a student in the West Allegheny School District.
Officials called Spencer's mother and he told her about the gun, the criminal complaint said.
North Fayette police were called in and secured the car. A search warrant was issued and officers found the loaded AR-15 inside the car.
The firearm never left the vehicle, the school district said.
In the letter to families, the district said that "investigating officers do not believe there was intent to use it at West Allegheny."
Spencer and the gun are in police custody. The teen's attorney, Blaine Jones, is asking the public to reserve judgment on the case.
"The complaint mentions a search warrant," Jone said. "So it is the job of my team and I to make sure that search warrant, number one, was procedurally correct in terms of the time. Number two, substantively correct in terms of probable cause."
