Guns are found in home of former Shawnee Mission West student arrested on suspicion of making threats

Police arrested a former Shawnee Mission West High School student Wednesday on suspicion of making threats against the school.

Zachary Perry, 19, was arrested after two students attending summer school at Shawnee Mission West said Perry had sent them threatening messages through social media, said John Douglass, the school district’s director of safety and security.

School officials became aware of the threats about 10 a.m., Douglass said. The summer school, which draws students from across the district, went into lockdown while classes continued.

Perry, a 2014 Shawnee Mission West graduate, was found by district police officers using security equipment to track social media messages, Douglass said.

Police officers from the school district and Overland Park found Perry at the edge of the campus on 85th Street. He was unarmed.

When officers searched the house where Perry lived, they found guns in his room, Douglass said. At least five rifles and shotguns, apparently belonging to Perry’s grandfather, were stacked against Perry’s bed.

Officers arrested Perry and booked him into the Johnson County jail on suspicion of aggravated criminal threat.

Douglass said he saw the incident as a vindication of many of the district’s recent security measures.

The new equipment used to find Perry was recently bought with money from a school funding bond issue, Douglass said, and the district had followed its latest emergency response plans in response to the incident.

“You always hope it will work out that way, every time,” he said.

School officials sent a message to parents Thursday explaining the incident.

Summer school ends Friday.

This story was originally published July 23, 2015 at 6:34 PM with the headline "Guns are found in home of former Shawnee Mission West student arrested on suspicion of making threats."