DIXFIELD – Two Dirigo High School students were arrested at the school Tuesday afternoon on terrorizing charges after authorities said the pair were caught with a BB pistol.

School officials called for a lockdown of the building when they heard a gun was in the school’s vicinity.

Police Sgt. Mark Dow said late Tuesday night that he charged a 16-year-old Rumford boy and a 15-year-old Dixfield boy with terrorizing with a firearm, a Class C felony.

The teens were conditionally released to their parents, and are tentatively scheduled to be arraigned on Nov. 13 in a juvenile session at Rumford District Court. Dow said the date could change pending review by a juvenile community corrections officer.

Recent school shooting tragedies around the country were on the minds of high school officials when, at 2:50 p.m. Tuesday – 30 minutes after classes ended – they were faced with their own scary situation.

After receiving a report of a man armed with a handgun on Nash Street near the school, Principal Daniel Hart and staff got a handful of bewildered students standing outside the front door back inside and locked the school down for about 30 minutes.

Athletic director Jeff Turnbull went out to confront the man shortly before Dixfield police Chief Richard A. Pickett and Sgt. Mark Dow arrived.

Worried about student and staff safety, Turnbull said later that he reacted without thinking when he ran outside to face a possible gunman.

The “man,” Pickett said, turned out to be the 15-year-old student, who, along with the 16-year-old student, was taken into custody for questioning by Dixfield police. A pat-down search found the gun, an empty Daisy Powerline Airstrike 240 BB pistol, tucked into the front waistband of the older boy’s pants, hidden by his T-shirt, police said.

Pickett said the youths went off school property to get the gun from a friend. They returned to the school to show it to other friends, Superintendent Thomas Ward said.

“It looked enough like a real weapon. If we had seen it out when we arrived, we would have considered it a deadly force situation and acted appropriately,” Pickett said.

“It was a very serious situation that could have turned into an ugly situation, and someone could have gotten seriously hurt or killed,” he added.

‘Showing it off’

Standing inside the nurse’s office at the school with Pickett, Superintendent Tom Ward, his face taut, said that despite initial reports, the teens did not threaten anyone with the gun.

“From what I understand, they were showing it off. Jeff Turnbull went out immediately to investigate and try to find the individual brandishing the gun, found them, and he stood there with them until police arrived,” Ward said.

Initially unaware of the seriousness of their actions, Ward said the teens cooperated, offering no resistance.

“They now know and say it was a pretty stupid thing to do,” Ward said after police, he and Hart interviewed both boys.

“We take this very seriously. They literally put fear into many students and teachers here,” Pickett said.

Ward reiterated that only a handful of students were rushed back into the school before it was locked down.

“They were shook up. It was upsetting to everybody here, staff and students. Later, they were relieved that (the gun) wasn’t real, but, it was still shocking to people,” the superintendent said.

“School personnel responded as appropriately as they should have as the report came in, that someone saw a gun on a student. They went to lockdown. I’m very pleased they did what they were supposed to do,” Ward added.

The school’s crisis team will meet early Wednesday morning to develop fact sheets about the incident, which will be given to teachers to read to all students to alleviate lingering fears and put rumors to rest, Ward said.

In-house counselors would only be brought to the high school should students or staff require such help.

Besides the terrorizing charges, Ward said the boys each face a possible year’s expulsion.

Before doing anything, he said he would first seek advice from the school district’s attorney, then, school board members would also take action.

“The Number 1 thing of this, is, that no matter whether it was a BB gun or not, they brought a weapon onto school property,” Ward said.

Serious business, Pickett added, that requires a strong message to prevent similar incidents from happening.

“We already have the strong message by their own admission, that this was stupid,” Ward added.