May 6, 2013 2 min read

A 14-year-old South Strabane Township boy was arrested Saturday night by North Franklin Township police after he reportedly brought a pellet gun inside Washington Crown Center.

The boy, who recently got out of juvenile placement, was charged by police with sale or use of firearms and disorderly conduct. He was sent to Jefferson County (Ohio) Juvenile Detention Center.

Township police Officer Rodney Bush, who filed the charges against the teen, said the 14-year-old and an 18-year-old relative, Richard Unrue, had been shooting the gun in a wooded area near Lincoln Hill before walking to the mall.

“The 14-year-old had the gun in the waistband of his pants,” Bush said. “The 18-year-old told him numerous times to put it in his backpack. They were in the food court area when Unrue told the boy that if he didn’t give him the pellet gun, he was going to call the boy’s mother.”

Two teenage girls who were in the food court told police they saw the boy pull the pellet gun from the waistband of his pants and put it in Unrue’s backpack. The girls left the area and told mall security.

“Those girls did exactly what they should have done,” Bush said. “They walked away and got help.”

Bush was walking into the mall and was able to take the boy into custody and confiscate the pellet gun.

Bush said the pellet gun could easily be mistaken for a real handgun.

“When I was talking to the boy with his mother, he said that a couple of his friends saw it and thought it was a real handgun,” Bush said.

Unrue is not facing charges.