Two teenage boys were arrested early Tuesday morning after they were caught breaking into a Denver middle school and carrying BB guns that looked like assault rifles.
The two 15-year-old suspects, who have not been identified, were seen breaking into the Rachel B. Noel Middle School in Colorado late on Monday while carrying a school bag and what a witness described as long rifles, stated Denver Police Chief Robert White at a press conference.
Police first surrounded the school Monday night after receiving reports of a break-in, White said, according to the New York Daily News. Police were able to tap into the school surveillance cameras and discovered the pair walking through the empty hallways. The pair had ransacked several classrooms while the school was unoccupied, Jackson said.
"It appeared that they were carrying what appeared to be two long rifles and a bag, a sack," said White.
Police used the school's public address system to try to talk them into surrendering for several hours, however, there was no response. Eventually police units, including a SWAT team and bomb squad, cornered the young gunmen and confiscated their weapons and bags which contained items that they apparently intended to steal, including a computer, Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson told Reuters.
The teens had also smashed a window at a nearby school but had not entered, police said. Authorities have also linked the kids to an earlier break-in at Greenwood Elementary School.
Denver school district spokeswoman Kristy Armstrong announced that schools were open and started on time Tuesday.