NEW HOLLAND, Lancaster County — A Garden Spot High School student was escorted off a school bus Tuesday morning and could face charges after a picture of the student holding a toy gun with a threatening message attached to it on social media, the school district announced in a letter to parents.
School administration was made aware of the photo at 7:13 a.m., the letter from superintendent Dr. Robert M. Hollister said.
While it was clear that the gun was a toy and it was determined that there was no genuine threat, the school’s superintendent and resource officer escorted the student off a school bus, Hollister wrote.
“The student had no weapon or contraband of any kind and was most surprised by our appearance,” Hollister said in the letter. “So no genuine threat, however, two students (one in the picture and one who posted it) are in serious trouble with law enforcement.”
Hollister said another student at the school made administration aware of the social media posting.
The full letter appears below:
Dear Parents, I wanted to get information to you as quickly as possible regarding the brief incident that occurred at the Garden Spot campus this morning. At 7:13 this morning Mr. Sanger, High School Principal, was made aware of a picture with a student holding a toy gun posted on social media last night (it’s clearly a toy) with a threat attached to it. We located the student who was in the picture, confirmed the student was on one of our buses in the parking lot and Officer Achenbach and I met the student on the bus and escorted the student off. The student had no weapon or any contraband of any kind and was most surprised by our appearance. I held all students on busses until the situation was secure. So no genuine threat, however, two students (one in the picture and one who posted it) are in serious trouble with law enforcement.
No further concerns exists.
Have a great day.
All are reminded, if you see something , please say something. This was given to us by another student who did a great job!
Thank you.
Respectfully, Dr. Hollister