ST. LOUIS COUNTY — Police on Tuesday arrested a juvenile armed with a loaded handgun outside Husky Academy in the Ritenour School District.
The suspect, who is a former Ritenour student, had one gun magazine with him, said Andy Mackey of the Overland Police Department. The teen, who was not identified, had made unspecified threats on social media, police said.
School was in session at the time of the threat, said Assistant Superintendent Julie Hahn. Those inside hid from windows.
At a news conference Tuesday, school officials lamented the growing problem of threats of violence against schools.
“I just wonder, at what point can we commit to a better reality for our students?†Superintendent Chris Kilbride said.
Officers found the suspect in his car in the Husky alternative school's parking lot. When they approached, police said the suspect ran and tossed his gun. They apprehended him around 2 p.m. about a block away.
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Police said the suspect’s threat was made in a video post on an unspecified social media platform. A student reported it to a tip line. Authorities were then able to determine his location by the background that could be seen in it.
Authorities have not said what kind of threat the suspect allegedly made. It was not directed at any specific individual.
Tuesday’s threat came less than a week after Ritenour High switched to virtual learning on Sept. 12 in response to “reports of online threats overnight.†And it’s at least the third threat made to a ºüÀêÊÓƵ-area school district in the past week.
This suspect is not connected to last week’s threat, police said.
The Ladue Horton Watkins High School shut down after a bomb threat on Tuesday. On Sept. 12, five schools in Centralia, Illinois closed after two 11-year-old students were charged with felony disorderly conduct for allegedly posting threats on social media, according to Centralia police.
Hahn said students and faculty are “exhausted.â€
“In order to learn, you need to have a healthy mind, healthy brain, and not have safety always on your mind,†Hahn said. “Right now, because of a lot of these threats, we are constantly worried about safety and putting things in place to make sure people feel comfortable.â€
This story was updated to correct the location police arrested the suspect. He was apprehended a block away from Husky Academy.