Pierce County sheriff’s deputies have arrested three teenage boys suspected of having two loaded handguns Tuesday at Bethel Junior High School.

No one was injured by the guns and investigators do not believe the boys – two 14-year-olds and a 15-year-old – had a “sinister plot,” sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said Thursday.

The three were booked into Remann Hall juvenile jail Wednesday on suspicion of unlawful possession of a firearm, Troyer said. Investigators were look- ing into the students’ backgrounds but they weren’t being cooperative, he said.

The Bethel School District expelled the boys according to district policy and state law, spokeswoman Krista Carlson said.

“There is going to be no leniency in this matter,” she said. “There is zero tolerance for weapons in our schools.”

Students told school officials there were rumors of the guns on campus Tuesday, prompting teachers, a school resource officer and sheriff’s deputies to investigate. One weapon was found 15 minutes before the end of the school day and one student identified and suspended, Carlson said.

The investigation continued the next day and included a sweep of the school by a police dog, Carlson said.

Investigators found two guns – one hidden in a book bag in a garbage can and the other off school grounds, Troyer and Carlson said. The three boys were arrested.

“All three had been in possession of the handguns while at school,” Troyer said. “By the time the day was done, we had three in custody and recovered two handguns and some ammunition.”

School officials sent a letter home Wednesday to families of Bethel Junior High School students. They also left a phone message for parents, Carlson said.

Troyer praised the students for coming forward.

“The wall of silence is down,” he said. “Kids don’t want this in their schools. It’s disruptive.”

Carlson concurred.

“It’s important,” she said. “That’s how we make sure all of our students stay safe.”

Stacey Mulick: 253-597-8268

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