Smithtown West Student Charged After Police Say Gun and Knife Were in Backpack

A Smithtown West teenager faces four charges after Suffolk County police said a knife, a gun and an ammunition magazine turned up in the teenager's backpack on Tuesday afternoon. Three of the counts involve weapons, and the fourth accuses the student of holding stolen property, specifically a firearm.

The tip that brought officers came through 911. In the department's telling, the caller said a student had put a picture online showing a gun, and patrol officers from the Fourth Precinct headed to the Central Road campus in response. It was school staff who went through the backpack, at about 1:55 p.m. Police have not named the caller, and they list the student's hometown as Smithtown.

A letter that same day from Superintendent Mark Secaur said the gun was unloaded, that bullets were with it, and that the arrest went smoothly. Administrators had brought in police after hearing, while looking into a dispute between two students, that one may have posted a gun photo. Police sent a school resource officer to support them.

The top count is second-degree weapon possession, which police tied to having a loaded gun on school property. The other three are weapon possession on school grounds, firearm possession, and fourth-degree possession of stolen property, with the property being a firearm. Police have not said how the student came to have the gun. Neither the department nor the district has explained why the superintendent described it as unloaded while the top charge refers to a loaded one.

No name appears in the police account, which identifies the suspect only as a student from Smithtown. Police said the teenager would appear as an adolescent offender, with a first court date set for Wednesday before the Youth Part at the First District courthouse in Central Islip. Every count remains an accusation, and the student is presumed innocent unless the state proves otherwise.

Secaur told families the district knew of no specific threat by the student and was continuing its own inquiry. "At this time, we are not aware of any specific threat made by this student to another student, staff member, the Smithtown High School West, or District as a whole," he wrote. The district will also discipline the student under its conduct code, Secaur wrote, and he cited privacy and the investigation for saying little more.

"The presence of a weapon in our schools is deeply concerning, and we recognize the fear and uneasiness this incident may raise among our school community," Secaur wrote. "We are taking this matter very seriously."

He thanked the student who flagged the post. "We are also very thankful that a Smithtown student made us aware of the social media post which allowed us to act quickly and manage the situation effectively," he wrote.

A second scare followed on Wednesday. In another letter that day, Secaur said the district had heard "rumors regarding a potential new threat at High School West" and was checking them with police. By evening the department had an answer. "After an investigation, police found no credible evidence of a threat on October 28," police said, adding that more officers would be at the school Thursday. A follow-up from Secaur that night told families classes would begin at the usual time.

No lockdown was needed because the situation was already under control, Secaur wrote Thursday in answer to parents' questions: the student was with adults the whole time, administrators, district security and the resource officer found what was in the backpack, and police arrested him right away. He is now banned from district property.

Police have not said whether the 911 caller is the same student who alerted the school. The superintendent's first letter listed no criminal charges and did not mention a knife, and the police account left out the dispute between students.

The Fourth Squad has the case. Its detectives want to hear from anyone who knows more, at 631-854-8451.