Student Brings Gun to School

Some Jefferson City parents are angry after an elementary student brought a pellet gun to school.According to Jefferson City Public Schools, the incident happened Friday at Pioneer Trail Elementary, just one day after the same fifth grade student made threats to other students.However, parents did not hear about it from administration officials until a letter was sent home with children Monday afternoon. Now parents are wondering if school will be safe for their kids in the morning. A sign has been placed on a school door saying no weapons are allowed on school premises, but parents are worried the administration is not doing enough.”These kids are elementary age kids,” said one parent. “These are children and something like this happened in their school. They are not ready for this.”Parents say on Thursday, a fifth grade student threatened she would bring a gun to school to kill two students. When an adult found out, a call was placed to the principal around 7:45 a.m. Friday, however it may have been too late.”There was a child in the bathroom that had the gun pointed at her,” said one parent of the alleged incident. “A little boy saw this and went and reported it to the teacher.””They went to the book bag and there was a pellet gun in the book bag,” said Jefferson City Public Schools spokesman David Luther. “We don’t know for sure if the student had the pellet gun on the Thursday, but we know that that student had made a threat of some kind.”JCPS officials say they called the Sheriff’s department and did their own investigation, but it was not finished until after school ended on Friday.”It was too late to send a letter home, which is what we would normally like to do,” Luther said.Administrators admit communication with parents was not timely, but they are making sure this does not happen again.”The principal is going to meet with the students,” said Luther. “We are probably going to have someone from the Sheriff’s department or a DARE officer come to talk to kids.”Nonetheless, parents are on the edge about the safety of their children.When asked if the situation makes parents nervous to send kids back to school, one parent said, “Absolutely. Because who’s to say that child won’t bring a real gun and shoot someone?”School officials could not talk specifically about what will happen to the girl who brought the pellet gun to school. They say in cases like this, a student goes on a ten-day suspension and the principal can refer to the superintendent about extending that time.JCPS administrators say two other weapon incidents have also recently happened at the same school. Starting this week, officials will emphasize safety and remind students to inform teachers immediately if they ever see or hear anything.