Wantagh student suspended over gun photos

A Wantagh High School student who showed off cell-phone photos of an AK-47 and other guns to classmates was suspended from school but he won't be criminally charged, police said Thursday.

Detectives who investigated the incident decided there was no threat: Police searched the 17-year-old's home with his mother's permission and found no guns, and they also verified the boy's story - that an out-of-state friend had electronically messaged him the pictures, said the police department's chief spokesman, Det. Lt. Kevin Smith.

Neither the police nor the school district released the name of the boy, who is in the 12th grade, or the friend who sent the pictures, who was in Michigan.

Police had gone to the school just before noon Thursday after the principal heard about the photos that the boy had on the phone, Smith said.

Officers escorted the boy off the Beltagh Avenue campus, which houses both the high school and the middle school, and he was interviewed by Seaford-based Seventh Squad detectives. Smith said the boy's family was very cooperative.

In a statement, district spokeswoman Karina Stabile said: "The safety of our students and staff is our top priority, and we view matters such as this extremely seriously. We thank the Nassau County police for their prompt response."

Officials did not lock down the school during the investigation, Stabile said. She referred further inquiries to county police investigators.