A student was found with a gun on Gainesville school property Wednesday. The school district issued a statement to parents saying the incident was handled immediately and without disruption. The statement says “at no time was there a threat made toward students or staff.”
Ozark County Sheriff Cass Martin tells KTLO, Classic Hits and The Boot News the underage teenager had been using the pistol to shoot “varmints” and was going to return it to his grandfather’s house this morning. His grandfather’s house is near the bus stop, but when he arrived at the bus stop, the bus was already there and he had to get on the bus without returning the gun.
Sheriff Martin says when the boy got to school, he told some friends he had the gun and needed to get rid of it. One of the students told an administrator who came and got the boy and the gun.
The message from Gainesville Superintendent Justin Gilmore says law enforcement was notified, the firearm was secured and the student’s parents were notified. The student was removed from school pending further review.
Gilmore says in the statement “The safety of our students and staff is our top priority, and we will continue to follow all required legal and disciplinary procedures.”
Gilmore says when they have something like this happen, it can take a little time to get the information out to parents.
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He says unfortunately, they have had some complaints about how long it took for parents to find out about the situation.
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Sheriff Martin says the boy is being charged with unlawful possession of a firearm. He was turned over to juvenile services. He says the boy was very cooperative with law enforcement and he believes there was no malice intended.
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