Crime & Safety

Police: Student Brought Pellet Gun to Freedom

18-year-old taken out of Freedom High School in handcuffs after police find realistic looking airgun and marijuana in his backpack.

 

An 18-year-old student was taken out of class in handcuffs Tuesday morning after authorities found a realistic looking pellet gun and marijuana in his backpack, according to court records.

Khalid R. Webb, who told police that he had slept the previous evening under an overpass in Allentown, was charged with possession of a weapon on school grounds, possession of a small amount of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

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He was committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $5,000 bail, following his arraignment before District Judge Joseph Barner in Lower Nazareth Township.

The police confrontation with Webb was touched off by an anonymous telephone tip to the that Webb had gone to school with a gun in his backpack.

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According to the affidavit, the call was received at 8:22 a.m. Thirteen minutes later, four township officers, including the school resource officers from Freedom and Bethlehem Area Vocational Technical School, were holding a strategic action plan meeting with Freedom’s assistant principals, the affidavit said.

Webb was pulled from his class at 8:47 a.m. when police found that he was carrying a black and silver Walther CP99 BB Airgun, the warrant says.

The pellet gun is manufactured to look exactly like a Walther PPK pistol, a type of gun favored by many European police detectives and an iconic fictional British spy, James Bond.

Police also found a medium-sized plastic baggy containing a green vegetable substance, which tested positive for THC – marijuana.

The Morning Call reported that Webb had been cited the previous week after he confronted Freedom’s school resource officer after another student was tasered by police during a cafeteria melee.

The arrest warrant shows a Santee Road address for Webb was crossed out and replaced with the word “homeless.”

“I slept under an overpass last night in Allentown,” Webb told township police after his arrest, according to the affidavit.


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