Boardman High student charged with taking gun to school
BOARDMAN
An 18-year-old Boardman High School student accused of bringing a gun to school did not enter a plea Tuesday at his arraignment.
William J. Ritchey III of Boardman is facing a felony charge of possession of a deadly weapon in a school safety zone. He posted his $2,500 bond through Acme Bonding Agency.
Ritchey is accused of bringing a .38-caliber revolver to school Friday, police said. A student reported seeing Ritchey with a gun, and the school security officer stopped Ritchey in the main hallway of the school and searched him, finding an unloaded gun tucked inside his right pant leg near his ankle, according to reports.
Ritchey did not have ammunition and told school officials and police that the gun belonged to his father and that he had taken it without his father’s knowledge from their house to school, police said.
Ritchey will be back in court March 6 for a preliminary hearing.
Superintendent Frank Lazzeri said in his eight years as superintendent, this is only the second time a weapon has been found on school grounds.
“Why did he have it? I was told he said he was going target-shooting after school,” said Lazzeri, who said he hasn’t yet had a meeting with Ritchey or his parents. He declined to give information about potential disciplinary action.
Lazzeri said all school buildings have safety measures such as video cameras aimed at front doors and locked doors that require visitors to wait outside before being let into the buildings.
“There are no metal detectors because there’s no need at this point, but I don’t know what the future holds. It could be something to consider down the line if we had a rash of weapons coming into the schools, but that is not the norm; that’s an anomaly,” Lazzeri said.
The gun incident came about a week after a fight in the high-school cafeteria and on a school bus. Boardman police arrested two teenage girls — sisters who were not involved in the original fight on the bus — and charged them with misdemeanors.
“Fights do happen. They happen at every school district,” Lazzeri said. “Are they happening any more now than in the past? Not really. There’s not an uptick in suspensions. They’re running the same since I’ve been superintendent, and the same for expulsions, which are pretty rare.”
The superintendent said the district has on average five to 10 expulsion cases annually with an enrollment of about 5,000 students districtwide.