Ninilchik School student taken into custody for alleged gun threat

A student from Ninilchik School was taken into custody in Kenai after allegedly making threats to bring a gun to the school last Tuesday, Feb. 20.

A concerned parent reported the 12-year-old boy to Alaska State Troopers around 4:20 p.m. Tuesday, according to an online troopers dispatch posted Thursday, Feb. 22. The parent told troopers the student has been making threats toward the school.

Troopers from Soldotna and Anchor Point responded to Ninilchik School to investigate.

“The investigation showed a 12-year-old male student had repeatedly made threatening statements about the school and that he was going to bring a gun to school,” the dispatch states.

Troopers took the boy into custody after consulting with the Division of Juvenile Justice, according to the dispatch, and he was housed at the Kenai Youth Facility. Troopers spokesperson Tim Despain said the student was not on school grounds when troopers took him into custody.

“The principal was made aware in the early evening by the troopers and he immediately contacted (the) district office,” said Pegge Erkeneff, spokesperson for the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District.

This is standard procedure when some type of emergency happens at a school, she said. Since the incident happened Tuesday evening, Erkeneff said Ninilchik School Principal Jeff Ambrosier briefed his staff the next morning confidentially. He then sent a letter home to parents detailing what had happened, Erkeneff said.

The school provided a counselor on site for students in case they had questions or concerns, Erkeneff said. Parents were encouraged to direct questions to Ambrosier, and said they appreciated the communication from the school, she said.

Erkeneff said an important aspect of responding to emergencies large and small within the district is utilizing up to date contact information for parents. The district uses an internal contact information database to send out emails, calls or texts to parents on a district or school level, she said.

“In general what I think is really important … we ask parents to please make sure that their contact information is updated in PowerSchool,” Erkeneff said.

Parents can do this by calling the school their child attends.

The investigation is ongoing, according to the troopers dispatch.

Reach Megan Pacer at megan.pacer@homernews.com.

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