UPDATE: Middle Eighth Grader Charged in School Gun Incident

COURT HOUSE — A 13-year-old, male eighth grader at Middle Township Middle School was charged in connection with a Feb. 28 incident that put the school in lock-down after a Sig Sauer P226 Airsoft Pistol was found in his backpack.
Middle Township police have charged the student and corrected his age, previously reported as 12 to 13.. He was charged with 2C:39-5E, Unlawful Possession of a Weapon on School Grounds, a third degree crime.
The student was found to be in possession of a Sig Sauer P226 Airsoft Pistol earlier today when the Middle Township Middle School was placed in lockdown.
A student spotted the weapon, and immediately reported it to the principal. While possibly not lethal, the gun could cause harm if it was shot into someone’s face, said Middle Township Police Chief Christopher Leusner.
At 7:45 a.m. the grades six through eight school was placed in lockdown. Police from throughout the county converged on the scene, east of Garden State Parkway on East Pacific Avenue.
Leusner said the student who reported it told the principal the weapon was in a backpack, which was at the time outside the library.
The principal contacted police and the school Security Director Scott Webster, a retired township police captain.
When they went back to the library, the bag was gone, but a surveillance camera captured the student whose bag contained the soft pellet gun. Police officers ascertained the student was in Classroom C-10, went there, recovered the bag and took the student into custody.
Superintendent Michael Kopakowski said parents were alerted of the situation by Global Connect telephone messaging at about 8:30 a.m.
County Prosecutor Robert Taylor, who responded to the scene with Chief of Detectives Ken Super, said all departments responded according to plans rehearsed monthly by the district and law enforcement officials.
Mutual aid agreements meant that all local departments sent units as did New Jersey State Police. All were staged in the event they would be needed for an “active shooter” situation.
Taylor told the media he was inside the school as the incident unfolded.
“From everything I could see, everyone followed all lock-down procedures,” said Taylor. He commended members of Middle Township Police Department for following all procedures. “This is something we train for all the time. At least once a month we do lock-down procedures,” he said.
Kopakowski thanked the police and prosecutor for the “outstanding response to the incident.” He said the school district would “Continue to do everything possible to provide a safe educational environment for our students.”
Mayor Timothy Donohue reassured parents and public “All the children are safe.” He said from all accounts he had heard all teachers and others in the school were “calming and reassuring” to the pupils in locked classrooms.
He, too, thanked the police and school district officials and all other cooperating agencies.
“We prepare for the worst and hope for the best,” said Donohue. “When we get the call, there is no worse nightmare” said Donohue than to hear of a gun in a school.
Quizzed about a lock-down, Leusner responded that all county police chiefs have agreed on a standard plan of action for any “active shooter situation.” All classrooms are locked, and every teacher is trained in protocol to follow.
“We know in an active shooter situation it’s over relatively quickly,” said the chief. Officers enter the school quickly and begin their activity.
There are no metal detectors in the school, nor are their armed guards in the schools, Leusner said.
Leusner said the investigation was ongoing at 11 a.m., with an assistant prosecutor from the County Prosecutor’s Office “gathering all the facts.”
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PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
County Prosecutor, Robert Taylor and Middle Township Police Chief, Christopher Leusner held a press conference at the Middle Township Municipal Building at 11:00 a.m. Feb. 28 to discuss the lock down that occurred at the Middle Township Middle School and High School this morning.
The Middle Township Police Department was alerted by school security that a weapon was observed in a backpack at 7:45 a.m. The Middle Township Middle School and the High School were immediately put into lock-down procedures. Middle Township Police along with other emergency personnel responded.
The student was identified and retained. The situation is under control. The student had an airsoft gun. All students and staff are safe. Elementary #1 and #2 were placed on lock-down as a precaution. The schools are now open and will continue to run as a normal day.
There will be a press conference in the Middle Township Municipal Court at 11 am.
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PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
Middle Township police took a juvenile male to headquarters, and police suspended their activity about 8:40 a.m. at Middle Township Middle School east of Garden State Parkway. The school had been in lockdown from shortly after 8 a.m. Feb. 28.
A K-9 unit was alerted, and rescue units were staging as a precaution along Bayberry Drive. About 8:40 a.m. additional units were told to cancel the assignment.
No further information is available. More will be made available when we are told.