A 16-year-old boy is in custody after an intense search near Shaler Area High School, which began when police said his mom found a gun in his room before school. 

Even amid the search, Shaler police maintained that there was no threat to the high school or the public. The search ended Thursday afternoon when the teenager was taken into custody at a home on Soose Road. 

Shaler police said the incident began when the mother of a Shaler Area High School student found her son in possession of what police described as a weapon that had been reported missing. The mother managed to get possession of the firearm, after which the teen fled the home, and the search was on.

"It's unusual," said Shaler Township Police Chief Sean Frank. "But as you see the signs of the times that there are young people with guns and access to guns, and we talk about it every day, that go into unlocked cars and steal guns, and that's how this happens. This is what comes of it, we have a situation like we had today." 

Andre Knight said the first signs of something going on came after his wife saw something unusual on his doorbell camera this morning. 

"We saw someone on the camera around 6:50 this morning, walked across our yard, had a backpack on," Knight said. 

The video is believed to be the 16-year-old, who took off from his home along Anderson Road.

When the mom found her son with the gun, police said she grabbed it and her son demanded it back, telling her, "if you don't, I'll be dead."  The mother refused and kept the gun, which police said was reported as missing and had the serial number scratched off.  

As the search continued, Shaler Area High School's security level was increased, and police maintained a presence throughout the day. The Allegheny County Sheriff's Office said they were called in to help with the search, using a drone and three K-9s. 

Police said the young man didn't threaten himself or anyone else. 

"No threat to the school, to the community or to himself. This was simply, he, his residence was in close proximity, and he was a student there. So that was the relationship that we had with the school," Frank said. 

Police said they recovered the teen's backpack, which was thrown into a neighbor's yard. 

"There were no weapons, no guns in that. I can tell you that for sure," Frank said. 

As for the gun, police said it was reported lost from a neighboring jurisdiction, though details about how it got into the 16-year-old's hands remain unknown. 

"Know what your kids have," Frank said. "Know what they're doing on social media. This parent was observant this morning, and they called 911, so hats off to her for, you know, getting involved that way."

In the meantime, Andre Knight is thankful nothing happened where he lives, especially after what happened in Minneapolis on Wednesday, when a shooter opened fire at a church and killed two young children and wounded more than a dozen others. 

"It definitely was on the mind, it's just, again, I'm just concerned for my own family," Knight said. 

Police said the teenager, who is not being identified, faces at least two weapons charges and will be charged as a juvenile.