An investigation is underway this morning into an incident that had a student at a Newark Charter School disarmed and detained Wednesday afternoon.
The drama unfolded immediately after an early dismissal at the Rise Charter School located in the single digit block of Ashland Street (the old St. Rocco's School) where several students informed a unidentified man that a male student was armed and holding what appeared to be a gun just outside of the school.
The man (who was later identified as an officer from the Essex County Sheriff's Department) located the student, immediately ordering him to drop the weapon according to parents and witnesses at the scene.
The officer was reportedly off-duty and in plain clothing during the incident several parents told RLS Metro Breaking News. It is not immediately clear why the officer was in the area but sources would only say that the officer has some type of connection with the school.
School officials were informed of the developments that were taking place outside of the building when they immediately placed the entire facility on lockdown and frantically hurried students (who were waiting for parental pick up from school) back into the building.
According to a statement released by a school official Wednesday evening, the school leader said, "today, during dismissal, an incident occurred involving a student who was seen outside school grounds "playing" with a gun. An off-duty Essex County Sheriff’s officer intervened, instructing the student to drop the gun".
The school leader said the officer escorted the boy back into the building to the authority of school officials who immediately contacted police. About a dozen police units were observed canvassing the area around South Orange Ave. and South 12th Street to 14th Ave. where the school sits.
"No malicious or threatening action was displayed by the student and no one was harmed as a result of the interaction. We will work closely with the Newark Police Department, Essex County Prosecutor’s Office and the student’s family to review the incident and determine what if any disciplinary actions will be taken" the school leader said.
"Tomorrow, we’ll be meeting with students in assemblies to discuss the events, severity of this issue, as well as answer questions that students may have" the school leader continued.
Parents at the school said that the boy was in the upper level grades possibly subject to some type of incident that may have involved bullying.
School officials could not immediately verify those accounts and would only say that the weapon was classified as a "BB" gun.
It is not immediately clear if the gun made it into the school building but parents said that the school does not have a search policy or medal detectors.
There were arrests reported.