Northampton Township police arrested a Council Rock High School South student and seized two handguns from his bedroom after he allegedly threatened to kill students at the school.
Police say the ninth-grader was taken into custody Thursday night after a student alerted a parent that the teen verbally made a threat that he would bring a gun and knives into the school Friday morning to kill students and teachers.
Detective Sgt. Bill Klein says two 9 mm handguns were in plain sight in the boy's bedroom when police went to his home. Police say they also found a fake AK 47 in the 14-year-old's room.
Police also arrested the teens parents after they say the mother, Lizabeth Donohoe, let them in the house. Officers reported seeing machetes, weapons that fire pellets and marijuana in the mother's possession. Donohoe was charged with endangering the welfare of a child. The teen's father, Vincent Russo, was charged with resisting arrest and obstructing justice.
Klein says police treated the threat as credible from the start but weren't sure if the 14-year-old had the means to carry out an attack until searching the home. Investigators say it appears no other students were involved in the threats.
“We determined early on that it was credible,” Klein said. “We weren't sure he had the means to carry it out, but in effecting the arrest, we found the two handguns and that certainly ramped things up.”
The school district announced on its website that they received the threat Thursday night and immediately canceled Friday classes.
“This evening the school district received information about a threat that was specific to Council Rock South. Northampton Township police department conducted an investigation that culminated in the arrest of a CR South student who was taken into police custody. As a precaution, CR South is closed to allow the police to conduct a security sweep of the building to ensure that the school is safe for students and staff. “
Emmaus High School in nearby Lehigh County was closed Friday after a bomb threat.
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The threats come a week after a gunman killed more than two dozen people in a shooting rampage at the Sandy Hook Elementary school which, is headquartered in Newtown.
The 14-year-old is being held at the Bucks County Detention Center, according to police.
Credit: Police photo of Lizabeth Donohue
