Schools
Barrington High Student Charged as Adult With Bringing Gun to School
The school was placed on lockdown after a faculty member spotted the student with a handgun in a restroom at the school Monday.
Photo credit: Barrington 220 Schools Facebook page
Bail was set at $75,000 Tuesday for Kyle Robert Johnson, 16, who could face up to five years in prison if convicted on a charge of unlawful use of weapon. Johnson has also been suspended from Barrington High School for 10 days and could now face expulsion, according to the newspaper.
Johnson is accused of bringing an unloaded .357 Magnum revolver into Barrington High on Monday.
A faculty member spotted the boy with the handgun in a restroom at the school Monday morning, which lead the school to enact a hard lockdown, according to a joint statement from the school district and Barrington Police. The lockdown was lifted after 45 minutes and police located the student in the school and took him into custody. They also found an unloaded handgun and ammunition on a backpack.
“The student was quickly apprehended, questioned to ensure there were no accomplices, and transported off campus in police custody,” according to the statement.
Authorities are still trying to determine why the student brought the gun and ammunition to school, according to the Daily Herald.
Morgan Delack, District 220 communications director, said reports regarding the student threatening a teacher in a classroom at gunpoint were not true.
Nancy Loo from WGN News reported that parents flocked to the school during the lockdown to pick up their children. The large high school campus located at 616 W. Main St. has 3,800 students, according to the WGN News report.
All students and staff were kept in their classrooms during the lockdown and were safe, school officials said. No shots were fired and no one was hurt during the incident, according to the Chicago Tribune.
“All students are safe, everyone is accounted for, and police remain on site to assist with school personnel. We want to commend all members of the high school community for immediately responding to the lockdown and following all security protocols,” according to the joint statement. “As a result, the student was identified and apprehended and the safety of everyone was verified.”
Read more on the Daily Herald.
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