Civil Liberties

Student Had Permission to Bring Fake Gun to School, Police Came Anyway

Can't be too careful, eh?

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Rifle
WABC

I've written a lot of stories about school administrators and law enforcement freaking out because a student inadvertently brought a toy gun to school. But this might be the first case I've covered where the student who triggered the mass hysteria actually had permission from a school official to bring a fake weapon to school.

Needless to say, the police locked down the school anyway.

Northern Valley Regional High School in Demarest, New Jersey, is staging a production of the musical Hello, Dolly! and a student was tasked with bringing a fake rifle to school as a prop for the play. But parents who saw the student walking to school with a rifle in tow became alarmed. According to this news story, both parents and school officials called the cops. The police proceeded to lock down the school.

After the non-threat was handled, police and school officials held a press conference where they congratulated themselves on their good judgment.

"The police chief says he's proud of how his department responded and how the school handled the situation, because they did exactly what they were trained to do," WABC correspondent Dray Clark reported. "At Northern Valley Regional High School, their safety motto is 'see something, say something.'"

Can't be too careful, eh?