SAN ANTONIO (WOAI/KABB) — Two 16-year-old boys were detained Tuesday after a student was allegedly threatened with what appeared to be a real gun in the parking lot of a Texas high school, authorities said.
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said deputies recovered a realistic-looking Airsoft gun, a knife and alcohol from a vehicle at Pieper High School. The school was placed on lockdown as deputies responded and searched the campus.
“The school is secured,” Salazar said. “We do have two suspects in custody right now. We don’t believe that there was ever an actual threat to the school.”
The incident began before classes started, when a student told his mother he had been threatened with a weapon. She called 911, Salazar said.
Investigators believe the confrontation stemmed from a dispute involving a girl both boys had dated. Salazar said the Airsoft gun was allegedly displayed in a threatening manner in the school parking lot. The weapon was brought onto campus but, authorities said, did not enter the building.
“The threat took place in the parking lot of the school prior to school starting,” Salazar said. “The weapon did make it onto the school property, but not into the school itself, as far as we can tell.”
Authorities said both teens were together during the alleged threat. Investigators were working with the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office to determine possible charges. It was not immediately clear whether the knife recovered from the vehicle was involved.
Deputies searched the entire school after students inside called parents and 911, frightened by the lockdown and large law enforcement response. No additional threat was found.
“I’d rather be accused of overreacting to a situation involving a weapon in a school than underreacting,” Salazar said.
The sheriff’s office worked with school officials to clear the campus and reunite students with their parents.