Teen at Center of HHS Gun Incident Faces New Charges of Alleged Assault on a Police Officer

(File photograph.)

The 16-year-old arrested after bringing what officials say was a gun to summer school faces a slew of new charges in the wake of the July 29 incident, WHAV confirms exclusively.

Arrested after a school security guard is said to have seen him with a gun, the juvenile has been arraigned on four counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, Essex County District Attorney’s office spokeswoman Carrie Kimball said Thursday.

The alleged weapon was not located after a Massachusetts State Police Special Emergency Response Team joined Haverhill Police to search near the campus and along Route 97 Wednesday. Police initially arrested the teen about a mile away from the school near the intersection of North Broadway and Broadway.

This is the second time the teen appeared before a judge to be arraigned on charges stemming from the incident. Later in the day on Monday, July 29, he was in Lawrence Juvenile Court being brought up on charges that included carrying a firearm without a license, trespassing, carrying a dangerous weapon on school grounds and possession of a class E drug.

DA spokeswoman Kimball tells WHAV the teen’s legal issues do not end there. He also faces two counts of alleged assault and battery on a police officer, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest from another incident, and attempt to commit a crime on another incident, Kimball said.

He remains held without bail pending a juvenile court hearing to determine if he is a danger to himself or others in the community.

In the aftermath of the Haverhill High event, several local leaders demanded action as it relates to school security and emergency management. Meeting Wednesday, the Haverhill School Committee’s Safety Subcommittee suggested beefing up security at all Haverhill public schools, mandating staff first call 911 during an emergency, police officers stay at work during summer events and a security director be named.

Suggestions made by subcommittee Chairman Scott W. Wood Jr., Haverhill Police Chief Alan R. DeNaro and others came mere hours after Mayor James J. Fiorentini and Superintendent Margaret Marotta confirmed that there was no 911 call from the school when the sophomore was allegedly spotted with the gun, an item that may not have been a gun at all. They also said an initial lockdown of the school was quickly halted when police reported they had the teenager in custody.

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