O’Fallon student arrested as gun threats continue in wake of St. Louis high school shooting
O’Fallon police have arrested a student in connection with a false threat of a weapon at O’Fallon Township High School in the latest case in a series of threat investigations in the metro-east this week.
Those investigations arose in the wake of the shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School in St. Louis Monday in which one student and a health teacher were killed by a 19-year-old gunman. The day after, two students were arrested at Belleville East High School in connection with the seizure of a gun and ammunition on Tuesday.
In the O’Fallon case, the police department said a student was arrested for falsely reported on social media that another student was seen with a weapon at the high school’s Smiley Campus on Thursday.
“Our school resource officer and OTHS administrative staff immediately investigated and located the source of the social media post, a 16-year-old student of OTHS,” the police department said in a news release. “It was quickly learned that this post was fabricated and there was no threat to any students on campus.
“It is important to note the student who initiated this post did not threaten anyone with a weapon and is not suspected of possessing any weapons. This student was arrested and removed from campus.”
O’Fallon officers were continuing to gather information and will present this case to the St. Clair County State’s Attorney’s Office for review for “potential criminal charges,” the news release stated.
O’Fallon did not release other information about the suspect since the student is a juvenile. Also, the department did not release details about the social media post.
Before the O’Fallon Police Department announced the arrest of the student on Thursday, the department had issued a news release stating that officers had investigated “social media posts concerning threats” at O’Fallon Township High School and concluded that they were not credible.
Similar claims about supposed threats at other area high schools have circulated social media since Monday’s fatal shooting in St. Louis.
Back in Belleville, the police department reported on Wednesday that “There is inaccurate information circulating on social media that a ‘gun and drum’ was found on the campus of Belleville West. This is not true and should be disregarded.”
Police believe “drum” is slang for a type of ammunition magazine, according to Assistant Police Chief Mark Heffernan.
The Fairview Heights Police Department announced on Tuesday that patrol officers have been ordered to “step up their visits to our local schools” in wake of the killings in St. Louis and the arrests at Belleville East. A representative of the Fairview Heights Police Department could not be reached for additional comment.
As far as the two students arrested at Belleville East on Tuesday, Heffernan said in a statement that the students have been referred to the juvenile court system in St. Clair County and that the department has no further comment.
The gun and ammunition was discovered after a parent alerted a school resource officer and Belleville police of a social media post showing a student handling the weapon before class. The students were arrested without incident, Heffernan said Tuesday.
Chris Allen, spokesman for the St. Clair County State’s Attorney’s Office, said Friday that the state’s juvenile code dating to 1978 prohibits prosecutors from releasing any information about whether a person is being prosecuted in juvenile court.
The St. Louis shooting occurred in the Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, which was previously known as Southwest High School.
The gunman, Orlando Harris, a former student at the school, was shot and killed by police officers after he had fatally shot sophomore Alexzandria Bell and health teacher Jean Kuczka.
This story was originally published October 28, 2022 at 11:52 AM.
