MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) – A 21-year-old man who prompted a lockdown at his former high school when a student spotted a gun tucked into his waistband had gone there to ask a teacher for a letter of recommendation to college, police said Friday.
Damian Johnson of Manchester was arraigned Friday in Manchester District Court on a felony count of falsifying physical evidence and misdemeanor counts of criminal trespassing and disrupting school. His lawyer entered not-guilty pleas on the misdemeanor counts, and the judge scheduled an evidentiary hearing for Oct. 9 on the felony count. Johnson remains in custody on $20,000 bail.
His lawyer, William Schultz, declined to comment after the brief hearing.
The 90-minute lockdown at Manchester High School West began at about 8 a.m. Thursday, when a female student spotted Johnson walking through the cafeteria with a gun in his waistband, according to court documents. She told school officials she recognized Johnson as the father of her best friend’s children.
School officials said Johnson attended West from 2009 until March 2011, when he withdrew and went to Manchester Memorial High School. Spokeswoman Andrea Alley said Friday that Johnson didn’t graduate from either high school.