Student brings handgun to Allentown High School
ALLENTOWN » If it wasn’t for the quick thinking of a student and teacher, the situation could have possibly been worse.
A 16-year-old student was found to be in possession of a handgun at Allentown High School at approximately 1 p.m. on Wednesday, New Jersey State Police Capt. Brian Polite said.
An investigation determined that a student discovered that another student was packing heat in the classroom, police said. The alert student then notified a teacher, who immediately took the gun from the student and contacted law enforcement, Polite said.
State police arrived to the school located at 27 High St. and arrested the 16-year-old male juvenile, who is from Trenton. The student was sent to the Middlesex Juvenile Correctional Center and charged with unlawful possession of a weapon and unlawful possession of a weapon in school.
“There were no threats or any type of other incidents regarding the weapon,” police said.
Allentown High School is part of the Upper Freehold Regional School District.
In a statement, Upper Freehold Superintendent Dick Fitzpatrick said, “the investigation found no evidence that would suggest that the student had any intention of seeking to use, harm or threaten anyone.”
“We immediately filed the required documentation with the county office, and we have arranged for a Board hearing to consider corrective action and compliance with Board policy,” the superintendent said. “State law in New Jersey requires that the student, at a minimum, must be suspended from school and may not be present on campus, for one year from today.”
The arrested Trenton student was allowed to attend Allentown High School because the Upper Freehold Regional School District voluntarily participates in New Jersey’s Interdistrict Public School Choice Program. Under that program, a limited number of students who live outside the district have been allowed to receive a quality education in Allentown. Some of the students at Allentown High School are Trenton residents who have enrolled under a choice program.