Two Niles West High School teenagers who allegedly brought an airsoft gun to school Oct. 2 have been charged with disorderly conduct and referred to juvenile court, Skokie police said in a news release Friday.
Police said a 14-year-old girl from Niles and a 15-year-old boy from Skokie are charged in the incident that led to a lockdown at the school that day. The parent of another student at the school called police after being told by the parent’s child that the kids had brought a gun to school, according to police.
Police said they immediately responded to Niles West and investigated while the school was on lockdown.
“After further investigation, the weapon in question, an Air Soft BB-type pistol, was located and the lockdown was then lifted,” police said in the release.
The two students allegedly involved were detained the day of the incident.
Niles Township High School District 219 spokesman Jim Szczepaniak said the district would not have further comment because the incident is a matter of student discipline.
Some Niles West students who left after the school day Oct. 2 said they initially thought the incident was a drill when alarms went off inside the school.
“Three bells started to go off,” and then they announced that everyone should lock their doors, said freshman Walli Baig who was in a music room. “I wasn’t nervous because we all thought it was a drill.”
But when the incident lasted more than several minutes, he said, students realized something serious was going on.
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