Student with knife prompts lockdown at Vernon high school

Jackson High School was put on a brief lockdown Thursday morning after a report of a person with a gun just blocks away from the school.

Police arrested Chase Allen Petitjean after a parent saw him with a gun in the front office of Nederland High school.

The classroom the 16-year-old male student was in was evacuated.

Police said the case remains under investigation and no charges were filed as of Friday afternoon.

Dr. Stuart Kieschnick, the assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction for the Nederland Independent School District, said the school did not go into “lock down” mode because police quickly resolved the incident. Officials say the knife was a small pocket knife with a 2-inch blade.

Also, police learned the student assaulted someone with the airsoft pistol near West and Wildwood avenues before the 911 call was made, Simpson said.

The student was taken to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation with minor cuts on his arms that police said were self-inflicted.