NPHS student charged with possessing weapon at school

TOWAMENCIN — An 18-year-old North Penn High School student has been charged with possession of weapon on school property after police said that school security found a small knife on him on Feb. 20.

Alexander McKar, of the 100 block of Stump Road in Montgomery Township, was charged with the offense — a first-degree misdemeanor — in a criminal complaint that was filed in district court on Feb. 27.

Towamencin police said that around 12:45 p.m. on Feb. 20, officers were dispatched to the high school for a reported disturbance. There, according to police, they were informed by a North Penn High School security officer that McKar had gone to the school nurse because he was not feeling well, but the nurse — suspecting McKar may have been under the influence of an unspecified nar- cotic — requested security.

Police said the responding school security officer asked McKar if he had any narcotics in his possession; the student said that he did not, but that he had a small knife, which he turned over to the officer without incident.

Responding Towamencin police officers advised McKar that possession of the knife on school grounds is against the law, and McKar agreed to be transported to Towamencin police headquarters for processing, court docu- ments show.

A summons was issued on Feb. 27 for McKar to appear in District Judge Harold Borek’s Lansdale courtroom on May 13 for a preliminary hearing on the charge.

In Pennsylvania, a first-degree misdemeanor is punishable by up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000.