Teen Charged With Making Threat Against Pentucket Regional High School

WEST NEWBURY (CBS) – A 17-year-old boy from Groveland has been charged with threatening his high school.

A teenager walked into the West Newbury Police Department Tuesday evening and told investigators about an Instagram post that showed the 17-year-old referencing the first day of school at Pentucket Regional High School and "showing what appeared to be a firearm tucked into his waistband," police said in a statement.

Officers went to the 17-year-old's home in Groveland and arrested him around 9 p.m.

Investigators say the gun in the photo turned out to be an airsoft pistol, but that is still considered a firearm when used to threaten a school.

"Regardless of the intent or lack thereof behind these kinds of social media postings, municipal police departments take any form of threat against a school very seriously," Groveland Police Chief Robert Kirmelewicz said in a statement.

The teen's name has not been made public because of his age. He's charged with communicating a threat to a public school. He was held without bail overnight and will be arraigned Wednesday in Lawrence Juvenile Court.

Classes for the new school year begin Wednesday at Pentucket Regional, which serves Groveland, Merrimac, and West Newbury.