On Wednesday, Riverside police charged a Riverside-Brookfield High School student with unlawful use of a weapon for possessing a knife while on school grounds. Police said that the knife was never displayed nor did its owner intend to harm anyone.
The school’s security staff located the folding knife on top of some clothes in a school locker room at about 9:15 a.m., police said. According to Police Chief Thomas Weitzel, the knife was “similar to a Swiss Army type knife.”
Police said that it is against the law to possess any weapon on school grounds. Weitzel added that state statute triggers an unlawful use charge if someone possesses a weapon on school grounds.
In December, police charged a 17-year-old student for possessing a folding knife on school grounds, after the boy was spotted in the school parking lot. The boy reportedly tried to hide the knife in his shoe.
School officials did not expel the student, allowing him back to school under stringent conditions.
