This is a small country school south of Goshen. Just fricking ridiculous...
he students say they left the guns in their cars after a hunting trip over Labor Day weekend. But when they parked on school property, forgetfulness turned into a felony.
Posted: 6:27 PM Sep 9, 2009
Reporter: Ryan Famuliner
Email Address: ryan.famuliner@wndu.com
Shotguns found in cars at Fairfield Jr./Sr. High School
A school resource officer in Elkhart County stumbled upon shotguns in the back of two student's cars Tuesday morning.
It could prove to be a very costly mistake for the Fairfield High School students.
Officials say there really wasn't much of a threat to students in this situation. Police believe 18-year-old Ryan Lenker and an unnamed 17-year-old just left the guns in their cars after a hunting trip over Labor Day weekend.
But when they parked on school property, forgetfulness turned into a felony.
Superintendent Tom Tumey says the school resource officer was doing his regular rounds Tuesday morning and saw cigarettes in the back of a car.
That gave him probable cause to search the vehicle. When the officer asked the student if they’d find anything else in the car, Tumey says the student open told them they'd find the shotgun in the car.
He also told them which of his friends had gone hunting with him, and one of them had a shotgun visible in his backseat.
Lenker was booked in the Elkhart County Jail, while the 17-year-old was taken to the juvenile detention center.
It’s a stance of zero tolerance by police and the school, even though this appears to be an honest mistake.
"I truly believe that but the law's pretty straight forward. There's no firearms on school property and so the proper paperwork has been filed. They've been suspended pending expulsion and the expulsion hearing will take it from there," Tumey said.
Tumey says they also found live ammo in one of the cars, but say it was buckshot, so that's consistent with their hunting story.
Police say Lenker had his probable cause hearing Wednesday morning. Both the students could faces charges of possession of a firearm on school property; a class D felony punishable by up to 3 years in jail.
he students say they left the guns in their cars after a hunting trip over Labor Day weekend. But when they parked on school property, forgetfulness turned into a felony.
Posted: 6:27 PM Sep 9, 2009
Reporter: Ryan Famuliner
Email Address: ryan.famuliner@wndu.com
Shotguns found in cars at Fairfield Jr./Sr. High School
A school resource officer in Elkhart County stumbled upon shotguns in the back of two student's cars Tuesday morning.
It could prove to be a very costly mistake for the Fairfield High School students.
Officials say there really wasn't much of a threat to students in this situation. Police believe 18-year-old Ryan Lenker and an unnamed 17-year-old just left the guns in their cars after a hunting trip over Labor Day weekend.
But when they parked on school property, forgetfulness turned into a felony.
Superintendent Tom Tumey says the school resource officer was doing his regular rounds Tuesday morning and saw cigarettes in the back of a car.
That gave him probable cause to search the vehicle. When the officer asked the student if they’d find anything else in the car, Tumey says the student open told them they'd find the shotgun in the car.
He also told them which of his friends had gone hunting with him, and one of them had a shotgun visible in his backseat.
Lenker was booked in the Elkhart County Jail, while the 17-year-old was taken to the juvenile detention center.
It’s a stance of zero tolerance by police and the school, even though this appears to be an honest mistake.
"I truly believe that but the law's pretty straight forward. There's no firearms on school property and so the proper paperwork has been filed. They've been suspended pending expulsion and the expulsion hearing will take it from there," Tumey said.
Tumey says they also found live ammo in one of the cars, but say it was buckshot, so that's consistent with their hunting story.
Police say Lenker had his probable cause hearing Wednesday morning. Both the students could faces charges of possession of a firearm on school property; a class D felony punishable by up to 3 years in jail.