ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — The parents of a teenager who was arrested outside a St. Louis County school after making online threats are now facing charges of trying to interfere with the investigation.
The parents were each charged with one count of tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution. Prosecutors said they tried to hide evidence in the case against their son, who has been charged in juvenile court with making a terroristic threat, unlawful use of a weapon and resisting arrest.
According to a release from the Ritenour School District, a threat was made toward Ritenour High School. The threat was forwarded to the district and police.
The suspect was identified as a former student and a search began, the release said. School district leaders said the threatening post had a picture and a pinned location to Ritenour High School.
Officers located the student in a car in the parking lot of Husky Academy in Overland at about 2 p.m. He ran from police and was arrested about a block away, 24 minutes after police were initially made aware of the threat.
Police recovered a loaded handgun.
According to charging documents filed in the cases against the parents, they "concealed ammunition with the purpose to impair its availability in a criminal investigation" sometime between Sept. 17, when the threats were made, and Sept. 19. The charging documents allege the father knew the son had multiple high-capacity magazines, so he gave it to the mother and told her to get rid of the contents.
Both parents are being held on $250,000 bond.
