At 10:55 am the North Medford High School on campus School Resource Officer (SRO) was contacted by a staff member reporting that a juvenile was seen with a handgun across N. Keene Way Dr.
This street runs along the west side of the school near the front entrance. The SRO went to investigate and was contacted by a citizen also reporting that a male juvenile was in a red vehicle parked across the street and he had been holding a handgun.
The SRO located the vehicle in the LDS church parking lot, which within 100 feet of the School. The vehicle was occupied by several subjects. Due to the report of an armed subject in close proximity to the school the SRO initiated a “Secure” for the North Medford High School campus. Additional Officers arrived to assist and conduct a high risk contact of the occupants in the vehicle.
The officers contacted 5 juveniles who are all current students at North Medford High School. One of the male juveniles contacted inside the vehicle admitted to being in possession of a pellet pistol and that he had been shooting it at a nearby tree. The replica pellet pistol was seized and is very realistic looking and difficult to distinguish from a real firearm.
The juvenile was cited and released to his parents for Disorderly Conduct 2. The case will be forwarded to the Jackson County Juvenile department for review. Although they were trespassing on the property the other juveniles were released without any charges.
The high school was in “Secure” for approximately 15 minutes. When a school is put into “Secure” it is different than being put into “Lockdown”. Secure means that all doors are locked to keep potential threats outside and learning proceeds as usual. Students can also move around inside the school if escorted by a staff member.
Source: MPD
