School was closed down Wednesday, October 6 for Troy High School on Burdett Avenue when two sixteen year old boys were discovered to be possessing BB guns. Both boys admitted to taking the guns into school with the intent to cause damage to various facilities such as the bathroom and empty classrooms. The guns had been taken to the bus stop in a bookbag and then into the school tucked into the boys’ belts.
The school called for a two hour lockdown while students were still roaming the hallways. This was considered more dangerous to the students, as they were not under the supervision of teachers. Some students, including one of the boys with a BB gun, were able to slip out of school unnoticed.
A board meeting was called Thursday morning to discuss the school’s handling of the situation. It was proposed that metal detectors be bought using money from the utility tax fund, as the guns could have been real. Improvements to communication within the school were called for as well. The policy on lockdowns was changed, making it so that they could only happen when the students were in the classroom and under the supervision of teachers.
School returned to normal on Thursday. The two boys were charged with one count each of unlawfully possessing a weapon on school grounds.
