School district: Student detained after ‘replica weapon’ found at North Branch High School

North Branch Area High School went into lockdown Tuesday morning after a social media post appeared to show a student had brought a weapon to school.

Sara Paul, superintendent of North Branch Area Public Schools, said school administrators contacted law enforcement and put students on lockdown as soon as the post came to their attention.

After looking into the complaint, officers recovered a “replica firearm” and arrested a 16-year-old student, according to the North Branch Police Department.

“While it was not operable, it was treated with the same level of seriousness as a real weapon,” Paul said.

The lockdown has since been lifted, and students are back to normal activities.

“This incident underscores the effectiveness of our district safety protocols,” Paul said. “Our staff and students followed procedures as trained, and our strong partnership with the North Branch Police Department ensured the situation was handled quickly and safely.”

The North Branch Police Department is investigating the incident.