Barrington student accused of carrying gun, drugs in school
A previous version of this story stated that the surveillance cameras that identified the 16-year-old boy were located inside the bathroom. On Tuesday, the district clarified that the camera used is located outside of the restrooms.
A 16-year-old Barrington High School student is facing multiple felony gun and drug charges after authorities say he took a handgun to school Monday morning, but police are still investigating what he planned to do with it.
School officials enacted a hard lockdown of the campus at 10:35 a.m., after a staff member saw the handgun fall out of the boy's backpack in a school bathroom, police said. The staff member alerted administrators, and officials used surveillance video from outside the bathroom to identify the student, said Jeff Arnett, assistant superintendent for operations and outreach for Barrington Area Unit District 220.
According to a joint statement from the school district and the Barrington Police Department, police were on the scene within a minute of being called.
“The student was located, with an unloaded handgun and ammunition in a backpack,” the statement reads. “The student was quickly apprehended, questioned to ensure there were no accomplices, and transported off campus in police custody. The entire incident lasted less than one hour, before students and staff were allowed to return to their normal activities.”
The building's entrances and the doors to every classroom were locked during the lockdown, which was lifted at 11:20 a.m., said District 220 spokeswoman Morgan Delack.
Barrington Police Chief Dave Dorn said the 16-year-old boy no longer had the handgun with him when he was arrested.
The weapon was later recovered from a bag in his locker, Dorn said.
The gun was not loaded, but there was ammunition in the bag, he said.
The 16-year-old boy is charged with unlawful use of weapon on public school grounds, unlawful possession of an unloaded handgun without a FOID card, unlawful possession of a controlled substance (38 Strattera pills, three Xanax bars, less than 10 grams of psilocybin mushrooms), possession of cannabis with intent to deliver and possession of less than 10 grams of cannabis.
The most serious charge is a felony punishable by a maximum two to five years in prison, though probation is possible on all counts.
The boy is being charged as a juvenile and was taken to the Robert W. Depke Juvenile Justice Complex in Vernon Hills.
Students were shaken by the events Monday, and many chose to leave school early.
But senior Micah Giffey said she was not concerned about returning to classes today.
“The security's pretty good here,” she said. “They handled it pretty well.”
Giffey said she was present when the accused student was apprehended by police. She said she overheard him tell someone that he might know why the lockdown was happening.
Giffey said she was thankful the boy surrendered peacefully. “I'm hoping (the gun) wasn't for a shooting or anything.”
Kevin Harris, a freshman, said he was in history class when the emergency lockdown began.
He said students did not get much information about why the lockdown was enacted.
“I didn't really know what was happening,” he said. “It kind of seemed like a drill at first because you don't know that this could happen.”
District officials alerted parents of the events through email and social media, rather than by sending out an emergency call.
“We felt that in order to keep the community calmer and knowing we had a handle on the situation, it wasn't appropriate to do an emergency phone call and sharing that information through email and social media was the best way,” Delack said.
District 220 Superintendent Brian Harris said the district will review its decision not to install metal detectors at the school.
“It's something that we've reviewed in the past and determined that we don't need that at this point,” Harris said. “Certainly after an incident like this we're certain to review those protocols.
“It is a community value and it is something we'll have to reach out to our community and have more conversations about to determine whether that's needed and necessary,” he said.
Barrington High Principal Steve McWilliams called the high school “one of the safest places in Barrington.”
“We don't have control over everything, but we do our very best that there is that high degree of safety in the building,” he said.
“If students are concerned they should certainly reach out to us so we can have a conversation with them and work with our counselors to make sure they feel safe.”
In an email sent later Monday to parents, students and staff members, McWilliams said school would resume as normal Tuesday.
“Please be assured our campus will be safe, secure and closely monitored as it is every day,” McWilliams wrote.
It is the second time this school year Barrington High officials have had to heighten security in response to a possible threat.
In September, officials were alerted to a threat to kill students made over the social media site Snapchat. A former student later was charged with making the threat, which authorities said he did not intend to carry out.