OH: School Lockdown for Picture of Gun, Text

The latest apparent overreaction about guns and schools appears to be in Ohio, in Stark County, at the Marlington High School in Alliance.   A high school student texted a middle school student.  Attached to the message was a picture of a gun.  The middle school student showed the picture to their teacher, the teacher contacted the police, and the High School was put on lockdown.   From wkyc.com:

Officers and deputies located the suspect while maintaining a safety perimeter around the school.

Corleaunce S. Hicks 16 , of Alliance, was charged with inducing panic, a third-degree felony.

 There is usually more to these headline grabbing lockdowns than meets the first glance.   It hardly seems appropriate or prudent to lockdown a school simply because a student texted a picture of a gun.  Was the gun shown in the classroom?  Was a threat made to kill fellow students?

The answer to those questions appears to be no.  From the-review.com:

"I wouldn't go as far as to say it was a threat, but it was a concerning statement," Stark County Sheriff George T. Maier said of the message accompanying the gun image.

Maier said they found no weapons at Marlington High School. Deputies conducted interviews and locker searches while a Canton Police Department K-9 officer swept the school for weapons.

Investigators have determined that Hicks does not own a gun.

The gun in the image, Maier said, belongs to an acquaintance of Hicks.

Fortunately, the lockdown lasted less than an hour and a half.  About like a fire drill when I was in high school.   I would have to see the message in question, but a felony charge for a message that was "concerning" seems rather severe.

A tip of the hat to  Wireless.Phil,

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