Student alleged to have brought handgun to school

The Fort Scott Police Department and USD 234 officials dealt with an incident Wednesday in which a student allegedly brought a handgun to school.

According to a news release issued about 4:30 p.m. by the FSPD, Fort Scott School Resource Officer Joe Allen responded about 7:47 a.m. to Eugene Ware School, 900 E. Third St., to meet with school administrators. Upon arrival, it was discovered a 10-year-old boy had brought an unloaded handgun to school.

After a subsequent investigation, officers learned that no adults or students had been threatened with the gun and two juveniles were taken into custody, the release said.

USD 234 Superintendent Bob Beckham said Friday that students had assembled in the gym at the start of the school day and "at some point during that time," a student reported to the school office "they thought another student had a BB gun in their backpack.

"Mr. (Eugene Ware Principal Dave) Elliott went right to the gym to get that student and backpack to the office," Beckham said.

Beckham said it was discovered "it was not a BB gun and in fact a handgun.

"There was not a clip in the handgun but Mr. Elliott was unsure if there was a round in the chamber, so he put it under lock and key and called the police right away," Beckham said. "They (FSPD) took over from there basically with an investigation. We let staff know an incident had taken place in case they had questions."

Beckham said he talked with the FSPD and the news release was posted on the USD 234 Bond Project page on Facebook, and was also sent to local media. Beckham said he received the news release at 4:29 p.m. Wednesday and it was posted shortly after. Since the incident, several people have commented on the social media thread, voicing their displeasure with how the situation was handled and not being notified of the incident sooner.

"I wish that would have happened more quickly," Beckham said. "We have to make sure the info we're releasing was both factual and legal for us to release. The agreement was that the police department would notify local media and I would notify staff. A step I should have taken, I should have sent it through school messenger."

The district has a text messaging system officials use to notify patrons of school events and provide other updates and reminders.

"We do have an email system," Beckham said. "I knew the message was too long for a text message, but the system also has email capability and I should have taken that step."

Beckham said police spent much of the day with the investigation, then time was spent ensuring proper information would be distributed to the public. He said officials did not have "the necessary information before students left" after school Wednesday. He also said on the social media thread that "at no time was anyone in danger."

"I would have sent a note home the day it happened, but we sent a note home the next day," he said. "We spent some time with parents and it took that long to work with police and their legal department to make sure the release was factual and legal."

FSPD Capt. Shaun West said Thursday he has read and been briefed on reports concerning the incident but he could not comment on matters relating to juveniles. West said police confiscated the weapon and "will hold until the court releases it."

He said with these types of cases involving juveniles, the youth are "typically released to the parents."

Beckham said the district has a "zero tolerance" policy concerning guns in schools. He said the process has begun to determine what disciplinary action will be taken in the matter.

"There is a state statute that allows for a full calendar year suspension, and allows the superintendent to modify that based on circumstances," he said. "That's the process we're in now and after spring break, to determine the appropriate consequences (for the student.)"

Beckham said two juveniles were taken into custody but only one had brought the gun to school.

The news release said the case is still under investigation and all suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

West said this is a statement the FSPD typically includes in news releases it sends out regarding criminal matters. He said a report on the incident has been sent to the Bourbon County Attorney's office.

"We issue a press release for an incident impacting the larger part of the community," he said. "We release basic knowledge of what occurred ... we want to make sure factual information is being passed on to the community."