Police are conducting two separate investigations for teens bringing pellet guns to their high schools on Tuesday.
North Vancouver RCMP report the vice principal at Carson Graham Secondary called police yesterday afternoon when several students reported a teen had been showing off the butt of a hand gun.
A teacher escorted the student out of class and took him to an empty classroom where officers, including members of the Youth Intervention Unit, easily made an arrest.
No one was hurt and a pellet gun was found in the teen's belongings, which had been left in the original classroom. That student is awaiting criminal charges.
Also on Tuesday, New Westminster Police received a call about a student carrying a pellet hand gun at New Westminster Senior Secondary School.
With help of school staff, the teen was identified and removed from his classroom. Police found the pellet gun inside the youth's jacket. The 16-year-old was suspended from classes. No word on if the teen will face criminal charges.
Sgt. Gary Weishaar says the similarities between a police issued .40 caliber Glock and the .32 caliber pellet gun police seized from the New Westminster student are too real to ignore.
"Both have a plastic outer shell," says Weishaar. "Would you be able to tell the difference? Parents have to ask themselves if they are aware that their children own such a toy - what good could possibly come of my child owning this?"
Both incidents are still under investigation and the names of the students have not been released.
Earlier this month, a 13-year-old Surrey boy was fatally shot with a pellet gun in the backyard of a house when he was playing with his friend.
The incident sparked concerns about access to these types of guns by youth.
Police questioned the boy's friend, also 13, but no charges have ever been laid in the case.
