An Evanston Township High School student was arrested Wednesday after police discovered a toy pistol in his backpack.
School security was notified around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday of a student who may have a gun. Evanston Police officers who responded to the school found a toy pistol resembling a semi-automatic handgun, EPD Cmdr. Jay Parrott said.
Adel Mohammed Sobhi, 19, was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.
The student will also face disciplinary action from the school. According to the ETHS student handbook, weapon replicas are not permitted on campus. Anyone found with a gun replica faces the possibility of a three- to 10-day suspension and social probation.
“While this was not an actual weapon, any report of an alleged weapon at school or on school property is considered serious and will not be tolerated,” district superintendent Eric Witherspoon said in a letter posted to the ETHS website.
After last week’s elementary school massacre in Newtown, Conn., there have been reports of students bringing guns or threatening to bring weapons to schools across the country. Local media reported that a student of a Dallas high school was found with a loaded gun Wednesday, and earlier in the week a sixth-grader in Utah reportedly brought a gun to his elementary school.
Students and staff at ETHS were never in danger, as the replica gun does not fire anything, Parrott said. The student is scheduled to appear in court Jan. 22 in Skokie.
— Manuel Rapada
