Police: student had loaded gun in waistband

AUSTINTOWN -- A student arrested Monday at the Austintown Early Learning Center had a loaded 9mm handgun tucked into his waistband.

The full Austintown police report released Tuesday states that police were called to the Lynn Kirk building on Evelyn Road after school officials were notified that a student might have a gun. The building was placed on lockdown while authorities responded. District officials said Monday that the incident was contained to the off-campus building and there was no threat to students or staff at other district buildings.

The report states that school security supervisor Kathy Dina called police at 9:17 a.m. and officers met her and Principal Robin Vickers outside the student’s classroom.

Vickers tried several times to get the student to come into the hallway to discuss whether he had a firearm, but the student refused.

Dina and an officer then entered the classroom and ordered the student to keep his hands away from his body and backpack. The report states the student complied at first but then became agitated, pulled away and insisted he had done nothing wrong.

One officer grabbed one of the student’s arms while Dina grabbed the other, and another officer entered the room to assist. The first officer made a quick sweep of the student’s waistband and felt what appeared to be the handle of a gun.

Once they were able to cuff the student, who actively resisted, police removed a semiautomatic handgun from the front of the student’s waistband. The report states the gun had eight rounds in its 11-round magazine. There was no round in the chamber.

Police searched the student and found no other contraband.

The student was removed from the classroom and taken to the Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center.

The report states he is charged with illegal conveyance or possession of a deadly weapon in a school safety zone, a fifth-degree felony, and a first-degree misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed weapon.

School policy states that any possession of a gun on school grounds will be met with an automatic year-long expulsion.