Police: Stun gun confiscated from Portsmouth High student

16-year-old female student charged

By Jim McGaw
Posted 3/9/18

PORTSMOUTH — A 16-year-old girl was charged with possession of an illegal weapon after she brought a stun gun to Portsmouth High School on Thursday, March 8, according to police.

On …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Register to post events


If you'd like to post an event to our calendar, you can create a free account by clicking here.

Note that free accounts do not have access to our subscriber-only content.

Day pass subscribers

Are you a day pass subscriber who needs to log in? Click here to continue.


Police: Stun gun confiscated from Portsmouth High student

16-year-old female student charged

Posted

PORTSMOUTH — A 16-year-old girl was charged with possession of an illegal weapon after she brought a stun gun to Portsmouth High School on Thursday, March 8, according to police.

On that date at about 10 a.m., school administrators were informed that the student was seen in possession of the weapon inside the school, Detective Lt. Michael C. Arnold stated in a press release Friday morning.

“Upon investigation a stun gun was found in the juvenile’s possession. Based on the circumstances School Resource Officer Maddie Pirri took the juvenile into custody. The juvenile was charged with weapons other than firearms prohibited,” he stated.

Later that day, PHS administrators sent out an e-mail to inform parents of the incident. While the e-mail refers to the weapon as a taser, Lt. Arnold said it was actually a stun gun.

“A taser shoots a projectile that is attached by a wire that sends electric current to the body,” he stated in a followup e-mail.

A stun gun uses no projectile, he said, and needs to make direct contact with a person.

The school’s e-mail reads in full:

“It was reported to administration today that a student might have brought a taser (electric shock device) to school. Within a few minutes of the report, the administration confiscated the device and notified Portsmouth Police.

“The investigation resulted in no evidence of intended harm to anyone in the school. Although, no one was threatened or harmed the administration will continue to encourage students and staff to be vigilant.

“We appreciate the information being brought to the attention of the administration so quickly. It is in working together that we can continue to keep our school safe.”

2024 by East Bay Media Group

Barrington · Bristol · East Providence · Little Compton · Portsmouth · Tiverton · Warren · Westport
Meet our staff
Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.