SYDNEY, N.S. -
Students at a Cape Breton junior high school are shocked that three classmates allegedly brought a handgun into the building last week.
The three teens are accused of threatening a 15-year-old girl with the gun and they now face charges in connection with the incident.
The alleged episode now has students at Whitney Pier Memorial Junior High School in Sydney wondering how safe they really are in school.
"We're all in class, not knowing, and he's going around with a gun," says Grade 9 student Steven Campbell. "We all don't know what to do."
Police say the girl told them she had been threatened with a handgun by a teenaged boy on May 24.
As a result of their investigation into the threat, police arrested two 15-year-old males and one 16-year-old male. They also seized a handgun.
The Cape Breton-Victoria Regional School Board says its first gun incident may mean a change in security policies.
"It's like we lost our innocence…and now we have to come to reality and deal with the situation," says Charles Sheppard, a spokesman with the school board.
The first 15-year-old has been charged with uttering a threat to cause death, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and failure to comply with an undertaking.
The second 15-year-old has been charged with failure to comply with an undertaking, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and weapons trafficking.
"The trafficking is a result of one individual…either selling or giving the weapon to another person," says Staff Sgt. Max Sehl.
The third teen has been charged with possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.
All three suspects appeared in youth court today and police confirm they all attend the same school with the girl who filed the complaint.
One student who knows the teen accused of uttering a death threat says things aren't as bad as they sound.
"It's kind of crazy to bring a gun to school but I don't think his intent was to scare people or harass anyone," says student Brenden McRury. "I think he just brought it to show off, because he's not that type of person at all."
Still, some students say it's time for serious change .
"The school board needs to come and take a stand and say ‘this is what's going to happen…this is why, and that's it,'" says Campbell.
Some students tell CTV News they would like to see metal detectors at the school. The school board says it won't commit to or rule out that possibility at this time, but they do agree it's time to consider whether security cameras and locked doors are enough.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Ryan MacDonald
