A statement from the district says school bus drivers spotted the boys walking down the road and informed the school.
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Body camera footage from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office obtained by the Springfield News-Sun shows the arrest of the two boys. A deputy took one of the teens to the ground when he found the gun in his waistband.
The teen told the deputy the gun wasn’t his and that he was just holding it for his friend.
It’s not clear what the boys were doing with the gun, where they got the gun or where they were headed with it.
Where they were found was close to a mile away from the school district, which when mapped is only about a 20-minute walk. The school district said the boys were absent from school Wednesday.
Both Tecumseh Middle School and Tecumseh High School were put on lockdown status because of the incident. Students at both of the schools were reported safe during the lockdown.
The sheriff’s office helped with dismissal at the end of the school day.
Tecumseh Superintendent Paula Crew said the district is investigating if there was a threat by one of the arrested students toward another Tecumseh student the day prior to the arrests and lockdown.
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The teens were arraigned together on Thursday afternoon. They face charges of carrying a concealed weapon and inducing panic. Carrying a concealed weapon is a felony.
Denials were entered to the charges by both teens.
One of the teens has hired Laura Woodruff, of Patrick Mulligan & Associates, LLC. In court, she asked that the teen be released because of his age and lack of a criminal record.
“Although we have some serious incidents that are happening other places in this country – (I ask) that my client not be penalized for those,” Woodruff said.
The magistrate made the decision that both teens would stay in custody, at least until their next court hearing, which is scheduled for May 15.
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