Teen arrested after showing handguns on blog

updated 8:04 a.m. ET Feb. 23, 2006

DENVER - A 16-year-old boy was arrested Wednesday after postings on the popular Web site MySpace.com allegedly showed him holding handguns, authorities said.

The teen was being held at a juvenile detention center facing three misdemeanor charges of juvenile possession of a handgun, said district attorney spokeswoman Pam Russell. He is due in court Feb. 27.

Police searched the boy’s home after receiving a tip from Evergreen High School on Feb. 10, the same day he was suspended, officials said.

School spokesman Rick Kaufman said parents were calling with concerns and some kept their children home after photographs posted on the boy’s profile on MySpace.com, a social networking Web site, began circulating through the community.

One photo allegedly showed him lying on a floor surrounded by nine rifles with the caption, “Angel o’ death on wings o’ lead.”

“The photos were very disturbing, and while the content was not a direct threat, we just felt it was important for us to take appropriate disciplinary action,” Kaufman said, adding the student could be expelled.

Evergreen High School is in the same district as Columbine High School, where two teenage gunmen killed 12 students and a teacher before committing suicide in 1999. One of the gunmen had posted a threat on the Internet before the shootings.

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