ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — The former student who was arrested with a gun outside Ritenour High School on Tuesday afternoon was charged Wednesday.
The suspect, who is a minor, was charged with one count of making a terroristic threat, unlawful use of a weapon and resisting arrest. His name has not been released because the charges were filed in juvenile court, but police are working with prosecutors to potentially charge the teen as an adult.
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.
"I want to thank our students that saw it. They saw it out on social media. We had a number of students that came directly forward and notified administrators," Ritenour School District Superintendent Chris Kilbride said.
The suspect was identified as a former student and a search began, the release said.
Kilbride 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.
The teenager, who is not currently enrolled at any school in the district, was brought to juvenile court, where he was charged Wednesday.
According to the district's website, Husky Academy serves at-risk youth in grades 5-12 in a non-traditional school setting. The Husky Academy is located on Lackland Road next to the Overland Community Center.
On Wednesday, police said they were still working to determine how the student got the gun.
Students in all districts are encouraged to report threats. The Missouri State Highway Patrol has a tip line called Courage to Report, which can be used to report school threats or other social media threats.
