Quick Response Keeps Owasso Students Safe After Shooting Threats

A 14-year-old Owasso student is in custody after police said he threatened to shoot two classmates at the Eighth Grade Center.

It was just after classes began Tuesday morning when the school became aware of the threat. While investigating, police said they found a CO2-powered pellet pistol in the boy’s backpack.

Tuesday morning, Johnie Johnson and other parents of 8th-grade students in Owasso received an alert from the district.

"A little after 10:00 I received both an email and text from the school," Johnson said.

He has three children in Owasso Public Schools and the message to parents that everyone was safe came as an obvious relief.

9/15/2015 Related Story: Owasso Student Arrested For Threats, Pellet Pistol

Police said the 14-year-old student, whose name isn't being released because of his age, threatened to shoot two classmates.

Those classmates went to the principal, who then called Owasso police.

Superintendent, Dr. Clark Ogilvie, said they quickly removed the student from class and found a pellet gun in his backpack.

"Adults were watching and handled it in time before it became a real unpleasant situation or could've been a deadly situation, you don't know. You never know," Ogilvie said.

It’s an example, he said, of the district and police working together and training for this type of situation.

Ogilvie said, "We have a great relationship with them and they're confident in us with the policies we enforce, and we are all operating on the same page."

Parents can rest easier knowing there is technology out there that can immediately notify them when there is a problem.

"Information and the power of knowledge is important, and having that app to hear the information first was great," Johnson said.

The superintendent said, "I think we've got it down, not to a science yet, but we certainly know how to deal with it when it happens."

The student faces charges of planning or threatening a violent act and was transported to a juvenile detention center.