PONTIAC - Two Livingston County boys were involved in a gun sale plan that included cocaine as payment for one of the weapons, prosecutors alleged Wednesday. No plot to use the guns has been uncovered. | Updated photo gallery

The boys, Sean Sullivan of the 400 block of Boxelder Street, Odell, and Martin Huerta Jr. of the 17000 block of North 2700 East Road, Saunemin, were arrested Tuesday after a lockdown at Pontiac Township High School. They will be tried as adults on a dozen felony charges.

Sullivan, 16, and Huerta, 15, face identical charges of six counts of possessing handguns on a school bus, and another six counts of possessing handguns in a school. Huerta also faces a charge of possession of intent to deliver an eighth ounce of cocaine that was found in his house.

The boys are being held at the McLean County Juvenile Detention Facility in Bloomington on $500,000 bond. They must post $50,000 to be released. Sullivan's preliminary hearing will be at 10 a.m. Sept. 19. Huerta's hearing is at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 10. Both cases will be heard in Livingston County Circuit Court.

"I believe these charges are unjust," said Maribel Huerta, the 18-year-old sister of Martin Huerta. "There is no evidence against him."

Huerta is represented by attorney Manuel Cardenas of Chicago. Sullivan has been appointed public defender Tracy Smith.

Authorities allege Sullivan was on a school bus from Odell to Pontiac, carrying a book bag with the guns, when a student saw the guns. That student, who has not been named, reported the guns to the school's police resource officer.

School authorities locked down the school until police could search the school.

Police found the guns in Sullivan's locker, according to information shared in court today. Authorities said Sullivan admitted talking to Huerta about buying the guns for $100 each, and also discussed using cocaine as payment for one of the guns.

The cocaine was found in Huerta's room during a police search, authorities said.

No ammunition has been recovered and none of the guns was loaded.

Police originally believed the guns were going to be used at the school but now believe the only intent was for the guns to be sold. Police originally detained three students, but later released one saying they did not believe he was connected to the incident.

What happened

Police gave the following account of what happened:

About 8:30 a.m., a student approached a high school resource officer and said two other students had brought guns to school. School authorities instituted a "Code Red," or a lockdown, until county and city police could search the high school. No one was admitted into the high school or other school buildings and no one was let out.

Within minutes, police found a backpack in a locker of one of the suspected students. The bag contained six handguns; Newsome wouldn't say whether the guns were loaded.

When word spread of the lockdown, about 100 people - mostly parents - came to the high school and waited for hours as authorities shared what information they could.

Officers carried assault rifles in and around the school before students were released. A police sergeant armed with a shotgun stood inside the community center, where parents were congregated.

Police started allowing students to leave about 12:30 p.m., and parents rushed to them. Some teens and parents were in tears as they embraced; other teens seemed unaffected.

Earl Ross of Pontiac said five of his nieces and nephews and the children of two friends were inside the school. His oldest niece is pregnant and due in two weeks, he said.

"A lot of confusion, a lot of fear, among the parents," Ross said. "This is small-town USA. It's not supposed to happen here."

Cheryl Roberts' 18-year-old daughter, Kayla Thompson, was in her civics class when the lockdown began. She thought it was just going to be a drill.

She realized it wasn't "after we saw the SWAT guys going down the hall with machine guns."

Unnamed hero

"The police departments, school district and the students worked together to make this work," Mayor Scott McCoy said. "Where this started was with an observant student who brought it to the attention of someone that needed to know. There are a lot of heroes here but there is one major hero and that is the student who stood up and did what he or she had to do to make sure that their fellow students and classmates were safe.

"There is a student right there that I can't wait to meet," said McCoy, who also commended police and school districts for working together.

"What we have today is something very minor to what could have obviously happened," he said. "This is due to the due diligence of the police departments and school districts working together with this Code Red.

"The city is safe, school is safe, and all of our students are safe, and that is a direct statement to how well our police department had done and how they reacted to the situation."