Members of the Police Division’s SWAT Team apprehended two teenaged male students at University High School today.
Police said at approximately 2:42 p.m., Newark Police, including the SWAT Team, along with members of the New Jersey State Police and the Essex County Sheriff’s Department responded to the high school, located at 50 Clinton Place, on a call of a student with a weapon posting photos of himself with a gun on Facebook.
A concerned parent obtained a photo of the suspect in a school bathroom with a gun and brought the photo to the attention of a school security guard.
The security guard notified the school’s principal, who in turn notified the school resource officer.
Newark Police members responded to the school, which had already been placed on lockdown.
Police located the suspect and continued a search of the school, locating the .38 caliber revolver in a classroom with another student.
Director Ambrose commended the cooperative efforts of police and school officials saying, “By working together, two suspects with a gun were arrested with this incident quickly resolved without anyone getting injured.”
The suspect was not barricaded and no one was injured during this incident. Both youths are charged with Conspiracy, Possession of a Weapon, Possession of a Weapon for Unlawful Purposes and Possession of a Weapon on School Grounds.
Both suspects were remanded to the Essex County Youth House.
This charge is merely an accusation. The suspect is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.