The following gun incident happened on March 7, 2022.
Student was changing clothes in the bathroom stall. Another student thought that he saw a gun fall on the floor. Police were called.
Admin secured the hallway and approached the student in the bathroom. They moved the student to the School Store to question. The student wanted to call his mom and did not want to be searched.
Admin was talking to the student as the officer arrived. Another student was discovered in the bathroom. The Officer and an administrator went to investigate. That student was searched and detained.
Admin and Security escorted the first student to the office area. The student was escorted out of the building. Police were notified.
Student returned to the BHS where he was searched, detained and questioned. The gun was later found off school grounds.
Throughout the day, we communicated information about this event. This is a list of that communication.
School Board notified via text
Staff were notified via email
Parents were notified via email, text, and phone
Parents notified again via email and text with talking points for the upcoming parent meeting
Staff were provided information to share with the students
Staff Meeting after school
Parent meeting occurred at 6:30 P.M.
Another Staff Meeting after school on 3/9/22
A debrief with the Belleville Police Department occurred on March 8, 2022. The BHS administrators, Chief Robinson, Sgt Faull were all a part of this debrief. We went over all the decision points as we went through the incident. Special attention was given to possible points where a “lockdown” could have occurred. The results of that debrief are as follows:
Overall, the incident was handled very well. Police credited our Admin with a safe diffusion of the situation.
Police prefer for us to wait for them to approach a student that is suspected of having a gun. They want to make sure our staff are safe.
The safe zone (the secured hallway) that was created was suitable for the situation.
Lockdown: 3 points were identified for possible lockdown
Immediately upon notification from the student of a possible gun.
This situation specifically as the student was isolated. In other scenarios (like in a classroom) that might not be the best decision.
When the student was in the School Store and was apprehensive about being searched.
While the student was calm, this raised suspicion that the report could be true. In this incident, by the time a lockdown was called, the student would have been outside. However, in future incidents, locking down when suspicion rises could be a point where we could lockdown the building.
After the student left the building and the police were notified.
We should have locked down the building. This is a clear decision that needed to happen. We needed to make sure the student did not reenter the building without us knowing.
Next Steps
Based upon discussion at the parent meeting on 3/7/22, we will be sending out a survey to parents that asks opinions on a variety of ideas including metal detectors and clear backpacks.
Administrators will be retrained in our Emergency Operating Plan (EOP). Part of this training will include table top exercises that will simulate emergency situations. Teams of administrators will discuss and debrief. These exercises will also occur with the building-level teams.
VBPS