Brimfield high school students accused of brandished gun, making 'threatening' comments
Two Field High School students have been charged stemming from unrelated allegations that one brandished a gun at another motorist and the other posted social media threats against the school, Brimfield police say.
More:Kent high school student charged in connection with alleged threat
An 18-year-old Brimfield man was arraigned Wednesday in Portage County Municipal Court in Kent on charges of second-degree felony assault, fourth-degree felony improper handling of firearms in a motor vehicle and fifth-degree felony illegal conveyance or possession of a deadly weapon into a school safety zone.
Police say this last charge is due to evidence that the teen had the gun, described in complaints police filed in court as a 9mm handgun, in his vehicle while it was parked on school property during the morning.
"We don't have any information in that investigation that that weapon ever went into a school building," said Police Chief Roy Mosley on Thursday. "He indicated it remained in his vehicle while he was at school."
Police say a man reported a "road rage" incident, during which another male pointed a handgun at him while they were both stopped at a red light on state Route 43 at Tallmadge Road at a little after 11 a.m. Tuesday. Mosley said it is uncertain whether the gun was loaded at the time.
"But the victim noticed that the gun was pointed at him and he saw an extended magazine hanging out the bottom of the handgun," he said. "Whether there was a round in the chamber at the time, I don't know the answer to that."
Mosley said the incident apparently occured after "the suspect that we charged was tailgating our victim." He said the two did not know each other prior to the incident.
Police said the man was able to provide a description of the other male and his license plate number and he was identified as a senior at the high school who is on a half-day schedule and was on his way to his job in Cuyahoga Falls after leaving school.
Cuyahoga Falls police were contacted. They went to the man's place of employment and recovered a firearm, an extended magazine and ammunition and turned him over to Brimfield police. The complaints say the magazine was loaded, but there was no round in the gun's chamber.
He was booked into Portage County Jail during the late afternoon Tuesday, according to a jail booking report. Court records say he was released on a $6,000 bond Wednesday. The case has been bound over to a Portage County grand jury.
Cuyahoga Falls police filed a fourth-degree felony charge of carrying a concealed weapon against the 18-year-old in Stow Municipal Court on Thursday. A felony no plea was entered on the charge and the case has been bound over to a Summit County grand jury, according to court records.
'Threatening' comments found
Meanwhile, a 15-year-old Field student was charged Wednesday with third-degree felony making terroristic threats, Brimfield police posted on Facebook.
Brimfield police said they responded to Field High School Wednesday morning after school administration reported comments that a sophomore student had allegedly made on social media.
"Threatening comments were made against the school as far as, you know, going to shoot up a school," said Mosley. "That's concerning stuff when you see that. Even if those kinds of comments are made in jest, you can't take them that way given the climate we live in today, so we take those things very seriously. So we made contact with that young man upon his arrival at school and then initiated the investigation at that point."
Police filed the charge after consulting with the Portage County Prosecutor's Office and the boy was taken to Portage-Geauga County Juvenile Detention Center.
"We're doing some additional follow up on that, to speak with some other kids at the school that may have been familiar with those comments or maybe they had some additional context of those comments that we saw on social media," said Mosley.
Reporter Jeff Saunders can be reached at jsaunders@recordpub.com.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Brimfield students charged over brandished gun, 'threatening' comments
