Here's the report from the Lockport Union Sun & Journal...
MIDDLEPORT: Gun threat prompts Roy-Hart lockdown
By April Amadon/Union-Sun & Journal
MIDDLEPORT — An alleged threat overheard in the Royalton-Hartland Senior High School cafeteria led to a lockdown at the school Thursday, and three students are now facing misdemeanor charges.
Niagara County Sheriff Tom Beilein said a student told her mother Thursday that she overheard three students, all boys under the age of 16, in the lunchroom earlier this week discussing a plan to bring guns to school.“They were threatening to bring firearms into the school and shoot people,” Beilein said. Middleport Police Chief John Swick said the girl’s mother called 911 to report the threat early Thursday.
The sheriff’s department notified Principal Kevin Shanley about 6:30 a.m. Because of the nature of the threat, administrators decided to put the school under lockdown. Most of the school’s 480 students had already boarded their buses. When they arrived at the school, they were sent to their first-period classes, where they remained until the lockdown was lifted.
Meanwhile, the three students were apprehended before they left for school. Two of them were picked up at their homes, and the third was picked up by Swick at his bus stop. Swick described the third boy as “very cooperative.” The three boys, whose names have not been released because they are minors, have been charged with falsely reporting an incident, a misdemeanor.
The lockdown at the school lasted two hours. “The lockdown was kind of a precautionary measure to just make sure that no other students were involved and there was nothing in the building that would be a harm to anyone,” Shanley said. Shanley said the school has an emergency drill plan for such a situation.
Several law enforcement agencies were at the school, including both Erie and Niagara county sheriff’s deputies, Middleport police, New York state troopers and NFTA police. The Niagara County Sheriff’s Department bomb-sniffing dogs searched the school but did not find anything, Beilein said. Deputies also searched the homes of the three boys and confiscated a paintball gun and an air rifle, but no other weapons were found.
“At this point, (the threat) apparently was just basic talk, discussion,” Swick said. “That doesn’t mean that it couldn’t have been or would not have been (serious). There certainly were some things said that were inappropriate that could have very well been taken as an actual threat.”
Beilein said the girl did the right thing by coming forward.“I give the young lady credit for doing that, and the parent credit, too, for reporting the incident and standing by and making sure that her daughter cooperated with the law enforcement,” he said. The three boys involved in the incident will have their cases sent to family court, Beilein said.“This is a classic case of some very angry students, or at least one very angry student who managed to enlist the loyalty of a friend,” he said.
Shanley said he was appreciative of all the law enforcement agencies who worked quickly with the school to make sure students were safe.
Threats like this aren’t common in the district, and Swick said they will always be taken seriously.“Unfortunately, stuff like this isn’t always looked at as being serious, but it is,” Swick said. “There’s no joking about it, especially after different things that have happened around the country.”
MIDDLEPORT: Gun threat prompts Roy-Hart lockdown
By April Amadon/Union-Sun & Journal
MIDDLEPORT — An alleged threat overheard in the Royalton-Hartland Senior High School cafeteria led to a lockdown at the school Thursday, and three students are now facing misdemeanor charges.
Niagara County Sheriff Tom Beilein said a student told her mother Thursday that she overheard three students, all boys under the age of 16, in the lunchroom earlier this week discussing a plan to bring guns to school.“They were threatening to bring firearms into the school and shoot people,” Beilein said. Middleport Police Chief John Swick said the girl’s mother called 911 to report the threat early Thursday.
The sheriff’s department notified Principal Kevin Shanley about 6:30 a.m. Because of the nature of the threat, administrators decided to put the school under lockdown. Most of the school’s 480 students had already boarded their buses. When they arrived at the school, they were sent to their first-period classes, where they remained until the lockdown was lifted.
Meanwhile, the three students were apprehended before they left for school. Two of them were picked up at their homes, and the third was picked up by Swick at his bus stop. Swick described the third boy as “very cooperative.” The three boys, whose names have not been released because they are minors, have been charged with falsely reporting an incident, a misdemeanor.
The lockdown at the school lasted two hours. “The lockdown was kind of a precautionary measure to just make sure that no other students were involved and there was nothing in the building that would be a harm to anyone,” Shanley said. Shanley said the school has an emergency drill plan for such a situation.
Several law enforcement agencies were at the school, including both Erie and Niagara county sheriff’s deputies, Middleport police, New York state troopers and NFTA police. The Niagara County Sheriff’s Department bomb-sniffing dogs searched the school but did not find anything, Beilein said. Deputies also searched the homes of the three boys and confiscated a paintball gun and an air rifle, but no other weapons were found.
“At this point, (the threat) apparently was just basic talk, discussion,” Swick said. “That doesn’t mean that it couldn’t have been or would not have been (serious). There certainly were some things said that were inappropriate that could have very well been taken as an actual threat.”
Beilein said the girl did the right thing by coming forward.“I give the young lady credit for doing that, and the parent credit, too, for reporting the incident and standing by and making sure that her daughter cooperated with the law enforcement,” he said. The three boys involved in the incident will have their cases sent to family court, Beilein said.“This is a classic case of some very angry students, or at least one very angry student who managed to enlist the loyalty of a friend,” he said.
Shanley said he was appreciative of all the law enforcement agencies who worked quickly with the school to make sure students were safe.
Threats like this aren’t common in the district, and Swick said they will always be taken seriously.“Unfortunately, stuff like this isn’t always looked at as being serious, but it is,” Swick said. “There’s no joking about it, especially after different things that have happened around the country.”
