A student painted the orange tip of an airsoft gun black, then told another student he had a gun at Bloomington School South Friday, according to Bloomington Police Department Capt. Ryan Pedigo.
“That student then reported this information to a school employee, and the MCCSC School Resource Officer soon thereafter located the suspect and took him into custody. The airsoft pistol was found in a bag that the juvenile was carrying at the time he was taken into custody,” said Pedigo.
“On October 15th at approximately 8:45 a.m., officers with the Bloomington Police Department responded to Bloomington High School South, located at 1965 S. Walnut Street, in reference to a weapons complaint. Responding officers were advised that an MCCSC School Resource Officer had a student detained that was found to be in possession of a handgun inside the school. Upon arrival, officers took possession of the 14-year-old juvenile suspect as well as the weapon that was believed to be a firearm. However, officers determined that the weapon was actually an airsoft pistol and not an actual firearm. The orange tip of the airsoft pistol had been painted black and the airsoft pistol very closely resembled a real firearm,” Pedigo wrote in a press release to the media.
Police eventually referred the juvenile to probation, and he is being charged with A misdemeanor resisting arrest, and B misdemeanor possession of marijuana, according to Pedigo. The student was released to the custody of his father.
Pedigo referred other questions to the MCCSC. South was on lockdown this morning as a result of the incident and released a statement on Facebook saying the gun was a pellet gun, but an airsoft gun is different. Here is the Wikipedia page on airsoft guns:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airsoft_gun
Recently another student was caught with a 9mm Glock handgun at South, and the gun was loaded, but no round was in the chamber.
