NEWPORT — An 18-year-old was arrested at Newport High School’s homecoming football game for bringing a dangerous weapon onto school grounds on Friday.

Pend Oreille County Sheriff Alan Botzheim said an off-duty deputy in plainclothes was approached by school staff who said a young male subject at the game had a handgun concealed in his waistband.

The off-duty deputy, Travis Stigall, alerted dispatch and multiple deputies responded. School District Superintendent Dave Smith pointed out the suspect and he was detained without incident.

Jonathan D.J. Hodge, an 18-year-old Pend Oreille County resident, was ultimately arrested.

The teen’s weapon turned out to be an Airsoft pistol which realistically replicated a 1911 .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol. Airsoft guns shoot non-lethal plastic or biodegradable pellets and are used in team competitions similar to paintball sports.

Although Airsoft weapons are not lethal, they closely mimic deadly weapons they imitate. Moreover, they are illegal to possess on school grounds, according to the Revised Code of Washington.

Hodge was charged with possessing a dangerous weapon at a school facility, a gross misdemeanor.

Hodge had earlier inquired if there would be security personnel at the game and later admitted to deputies that he should not have brought the gun to the game.

“He also indicated that he thought if something happened he might be able to stop an attack and he wanted to show it to his friends,” Botzheim said in the news release.

Deputies discovered extra pellets and a canister of carbon dioxide the gun uses to launch the pellets from the barrel.

“The Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank and recognize Newport School District staff and students for their quick action and appropriate response in this incident,” Botzheim said.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.