An alleged shooting plot has rattled the community of a small Drexel Hill catholic school.
An eighth grader at St. Andrew the Apostle School was arrested on campus Tuesday for trying to recruit fellow students to carry out a plot on the school, according to police.
The 13 -year-old-boy's plot unraveled when another boy revealed that he'd been recruited to take hostages at the school and shoot anyone who resisted, said police.
The teen's family said Wednesday night that he never intended to hurt anyone.
The boy had two plastic pellet guns in his backpack that he planned to use to carry out the plot, according to Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood.
The plastic guns looked could have been easily for a real weapon, said Chitwood. If the child had drawn the gun police would have shot him, he said.
St. Andrew School is a small catholic, co-ed school with only 266 students from kindergarten to eighth grade. Details of the alleged plot shocked the school community, said school officials.
The school had security measures in place for this type of situation, according to School Monsignor Albin Gouse.
The teen has been on police radar recently, suspected in several robberies and burglaries, according to police.
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He is also suspected of stealing $370 from a classroom at his former school, Holy Child Academy in Drexel Hill, Pa., sources told NBC 10.
Quite a few parents came to a meeting Wednesday night at the school with Chitwood and Msgr. Gouse.
"I'm pretty shocked because it’s a great school. The kids are really great. Just a nice school very peaceful," said parent Mary Aldrich.
