Ken East student arrested for weapons threat

Local News

March 19, 2010

By Daniel Pye The Tonawanda News The Tonawanda News Fri Mar 19, 2010, 01:14 AM EDT

TOWN OF TONAWANDA — Town of Tonawanda police have arrested a Kenmore East student after he allegedly threatened to bring a weapon to school.

Superintendent Mark Mondonaro said a parent came to the school Thursday morning to tell administrators that her child received text messages the night before from a female Kenmore East student saying another male would use a weapon to harm students inside the school.

“The first time we were made aware of these text messages was this morning when the parent came into Kenmore East High School and notified administrators,” Mondonaro said. “We believe the students did not notify the police or school administrators of these text messages the night before.”

District administrators contacted town police and put Kenmore East High School on lockdown. The 15-year-old male student accused of sending the text message was not in the school Thursday, so police went to his home.

“The male student was placed in police custody, was placed under arrest and given a full five-day out of school suspension,” Mondonaro said. “A superintendent’s disciplinary hearing will also be scheduled for the student.”

Citing education and federal privacy laws, the district didn’t release the name of the student. The town police officer in charge of media relations had left for the day and front desk officers didn’t have access to the charges against the teen as of press time.

After a preliminary investigation, Mondonaro said district officials don’t believe the threat was credible, but said it is best to err on the side of caution. In a letter sent home to parents Thursday, the superintendent urged students to tell their parents immediately and contact the police and school officials as soon as possible after hearing a threat. He said the school resource officers in both high schools will keep that information in strict confidence.

“Regardless of the credibility of the alleged text messages, students and parents should immediately contact police and school administrators when threats of this nature are allegedly made,” Mondonaro said.

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