A 16-year-old girl was arrested Tuesday after bringing a BB gun to Juneau-Douglas High School and posting a photo of it on social media.
She was charged with “terroristic threatening” in the second degree, a felony offense, even though she didn’t make any threats with the gun, police said.
“Officers determined that the 16-year-old female made no direct threats of harming anyone with the BB gun, but her actions of bringing it to the school and posting images on social media created a fear of people being injured and the school to go into a stay put,” reads a statement from the Juneau Police Department.
The school was placed in “stay put mode” during the incident Tuesday afternoon, meaning that classes continued while students stayed in their classrooms but no one was allowed in or out of the building while police investigated.
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“The threat has been resolved” as of about 1:45 p.m. Tuesday, and the stay put mode was lifted by 2:45 p.m., according to emailed statements from Juneau School District Chief of Staff Kristin Bartlett.
“The school received a credible threat, staff and students responded quickly, JPD investigated and the threat was resolved,” one of Bartlett’s emails stated. “The school district takes all reports of concern seriously and student and staff safety is our top priority.”
JPD Lt. Krag Campbell said in a press release that the call was first reported to police as a handgun being in the school.
“At about 1:30 p.m., the Juneau Police Department received a report of a 16-year-old female JDHS student who posted a photo on social media of a person holding a handgun. The photo appeared to have been taken in a bathroom, possibly at JDHS. The photo was approximately from the waist down, and was of an unknown person holding what appeared to be a handgun,” the police information release reads.
JPD arrived at the school, contacted the student, and confirmed she brought a BB gun to school. She was then arrested and taken to the Johnson Youth Center. Terroristic threatening in the second degree is a class C felony, police said.
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This is the second time in two months that a JSD school has been put in stay put mode. The first came in late November, when Dzantik’i Heeni Middle School locked down when the suspect in a shooting was nearby.
JPD said in a release that bringing a BB gun to school “can have serious consequences. Across the country there have been incidents of mass shootings and people on high alert for potential threats. Some BB guns, or similar items, can look realistic and place people in fear for their safety. Please make sure to leave items like this at home.”
Juneau-Douglas High School pictured on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
