Girl in Har-Ber gun scare faces misdemeanor charge

STAFF PHOTO JASON IVESTER Police guard the main entrance at Har-Ber High School.
STAFF PHOTO JASON IVESTER Police guard the main entrance at Har-Ber High School.

A teenager faces a charge of juvenile misdemeanor disorderly conduct after a gun scare Thursday. She did not return to class at Har-Ber High School on Friday.

The 15-year-old girl had threatened other students at the school Thursday and told them she had a gun, said Lt. Derek Hudson, spokesman for the Springdale Police Department. Two students reported the gun threat to administrators. The school was put on “high alert” status, and students at at the school were locked in their classrooms for an hour.

No one was injured, and as of 11 a.m. Friday, authorities have not found a weapon at the school or in the girl’s possession, Hudson said. Several students were questioned, and the 15-year-old was taken to the Police Department for further questioning. She was released to her legal guardian Thursday, Hudson said.

Rick Schaeffer, district communications director, said he can’t disclose any disciplinary action from the school or district administrators if it were to happen.

Jared Cleveland, deputy superintendent for personnel, said Thursday that school officials followed district procedures during the situation. He stopped short of calling the situation a lockdown, a more serious measure taken if there were a shooter on campus.

“You have to take every threat as if it were real, even if it’s not,” he said.

Hellstern Middle School is adjacent and to the west of the high school, while Young Elementary School is to the east in the Har-Ber Meadows subdivision. Neither school was put on an alert status, Hudson said Thursday.

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