Naperville eighth-grader arrested after bringing air gun to school

An eighth-grade student at Naperville's Jefferson Junior High School was arrested Friday and charged with disorderly conduct for bringing a soft-pellet air gun to school.

Principal Mark Pasztor said another student saw the air gun and reported it to the administration early Friday.

"There were no threats ever made or any concerns about the student wanting to hurt anyone," Pasztor said. "It was apparently just a toy that he had been playing with with friends and decided to bring to school."

Despite the lack of a threat, Pasztor said the student "committed a serious offense" and would face as yet undetermined school punishment in addition to any legal consequences.

"More and more students are bringing inappropriate things to school and we're asking parents to help us stop that from occurring," Pasztor said. "Because once the student gets here, it's just too late and these types of things can happen."

Naperville police said the school's liaison officer placed the student under arrest and later released him to his parents. The gun, they said, would be kept as evidence.

Pasztor said all parents already should have received an e-mail about the incident. The school day was not affected by the incident, he said.