Minnesota: 6th grader boy fired a gun inside Plymouth school
A student fired gunshots Monday morning inside Plymouth Middle School, and no injuries were reported, police said.
The sixth-grade boy took the gun from his home and took it to school; his father told the Star Tribune.
A school resource officer apprehended the student, who fired the shots about 8:45 a.m. in a hall outside a bathroom, police and the district superintendent said during a media briefing late Monday morning. A gun was recovered, said Police Chief Erik Fadden.
A lockdown was in place for more than 700 students until about noon at the school for sixth- through eighth-grade students, part of the Robbinsdale School District and located just west of Hwy. 169 at N. 10011 36th Av.
The father, who talked to his 12-year-old son at the school afterwards, said he had seen nothing in the boy's behaviour to indicate such an incident was possible. The Star Tribune is not identifying the man to protect his juvenile son's identity.
"I think he realizes the mistake he has made," the father said. "I hope they can get him the help he needs."
As his son is being held in juvenile detention, the father said, "My mind is numb. I wasn't expecting this."
The father pointed to "the COVID that has taken its stress level" on students as the pandemic disrupts the learning experience.
Interim District Superintendent Stephanie Burrage said, "We had an unfortunate situation today. Anytime there is a gun in the school, [that] puts our kids in jeopardy. ... It's not a fun day for anyone to manage a gun in a school."
Burrage was asked whether the student said anything during the incident, and she replied, "We can't share what was said."
The superintendent said the district has been in contact with the student's parents.
A staff member first encountered the student before the school resource officer stepped in and made the arrest, police said.
"Thank God there was a school resource officer there to de-escalate," said Hennepin County Sheriff David Hutchinson, whose office will have personnel on the campus to assist police throughout the day.
The district directed families wishing to pick up students to go to the east parking lot of nearby Armstrong High School for reunification.
Small groups of students started leaving around noon and were provided bag lunches as they headed toward the high school.
Seventh-grader Lola Hodgson texted her mother, Nikia Slaughter, at 8:47 a.m. that the school was on lockdown and that several shots had been fired.
"We don't entirely know what the hell is going on," Hodgson texted her mother, who headed for the school.
"I was bawling," Slaughter said from the high school's parking lot, where a few hundred parents gathered, waiting to pick up their students. Many of them were wiping tears or bent over their phones, texting their children for updates.
Her mother, Karen Jetson, joined slaughter. When they got the news from the school at 10 a.m., no students hurt; they both said they felt overwhelming relief.
"My hands finally stopped shaking," Slaughter said.
"This is the best outcome of the worst situation," Jetson said.
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