Red Jacket HS student accused of bringing gun to school back in court Friday

CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. (WHEC) — The student accused of bringing a gun to Red Jacket High School is scheduled to be back in court Friday afternoon.

The 15-year-old, who isn’t being named, is facing two counts of criminal possession of a weapon (2nd) for the April 1 incident. He was disarmed by a school staff member and no one was injured.

He was arraigned on those charges Tuesday in Ontario County Court and Friday, he’s scheduled for a preliminary hearing. He’s in "secure placement" according to the district attorney, and could face 1 to 1 3/4 years if tried and convicted as an adult.

Ontario County District Attorney James Ritts said the student did have a plan in place before he walked into the school.“I mean, this is something that came into the school from outside. So there had to be some measure of forethought and planning going into it,” Ritts said. “I mean, there was a plan. I don’t know how well it was planned out, how well it certainly wasn’t. Fortunately, it wasn’t executed very well.”

Right now he’s being charged as a juvenile offender, which means he could be tried as an adult.

“We have a lot of work to do, a lot of investigation, do a lot of records to collect and review," Ritts said. “So there’s a lot more to be done before determinations made on whether he gets tried as an adult or not.”