Threat shuts down Newtown, Pa., high school

Another threat to an area school shut down Council Rock High School South in Newtown, Pennsylvania, Friday.

Students and staff stayed home while police conducted a full sweep of the school.

 

A school employee saw a comment on Facebook that triggered a search for and arrest of a student Thursday night.

“An immediate investigation was initiated and the threats were determined to be credible,” said Northampton Police Chief Barry Pilla.

In a search of the youth’s home, police found two semi-automatic handguns on the 14-year-old’s nightstand.

He was arrested on the charges of making terroristic threats and possession of firearms, Pilla said.

The teen’s mother also was arrested on charges of allowing him to have access to the guns, police said.

The shutdown of the high school in Bucks County occurred one week from the day a man shot 20 young children and six adults in a Connecticut elementary school.

Council Rock School District is headquartered in Newtown, a community with the same name as the Connecticut town where 20 elementary school students were killed a week ago.

Threats have also been reported at other high schools including Norristown and MontCo Tech, police said.

In the Lehigh Valley, Emmaus High School also was closed Friday because of a bomb threat. The district says it doesn’t believe the threat is credible.

Police in suburban Pittsburgh arrested two teens after a pair of threats of a shooting at Hopewell High School on Friday. They were released to their parents.