GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – One of the students charged in connection with a gun found in a locker at Green Bay East High School was declared delinquent Monday, the juvenile court version of being convicted, and will be headed to Rawhide Youth Services.
Meanwhile, the second defendant in the East High incident returns to court next month. Additionally, four other students are being prosecuted in juvenile court for threats made against Green Bay Preble High School.
State law prohibits the media from identifying those being prosecuted in juvenile court.
For the East High incident, the charges for two teens were filed after a gun was found in a locker on Dec. 20. School district officials explained that one student was let in by another at a non-secure entrance. A resource officer at the school learned of a possible weapon in the student’s jacket, which was in their locker. That student’s locker was searched, and a handgun was found in the jacket.
One of the East students – a 15-year-old male – appeared in court Monday on video from the Brown County jail. He entered an admission – the juvenile version of a guilty or no contest plea – to possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18, being in violation of a court custody order, as well as four other charges from unrelated matters. Judge John Zakowski declared him delinquent – the juvenile version of guilty – and set the disposition hearing for Feb. 23.
Although the sentencing isn’t until next month, the attorneys noted in court Monday the teen has been accepted to Rawhide – a residential counseling and treatment center near New London – and could be transferred there as soon as this week. The judge approved the move.
In court Monday, there was no indication of the specific role the 15-year-old had in the incident.
A representative of the Green Bay Area Public School District attended the hearing virtually but did not comment.
The week before the incident at East High, there were three separate threats against Preble High. The first, via social media on Dec. 12, threatened a shooting, but the teens later said they thought the posts were funny and wanted to see what the reaction would be. A second threat on social media followed days later, then a third.
Four students face juvenile court charges of making a terrorist threat, including a 16-year-old boy, a 14-year-old boy, and 15- and 16-year-olds whose genders were not identified. All four have court appearances scheduled in the next ten days. None have yet been found delinquent, the juvenile version of a conviction.
The combination of the threats led the school district to place all middle and high schools into online learning for several days in December.
The Green Bay Area Public School District provided this statement to FOX 11 Monday on how it has followed up on the incidents, in terms of suspensions or expulsions: “Due to student privacy, the District is unable to share information. All offenses were processed in accordance with school board policies and rules.”
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