GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (GRPS) – Grand Rapids Public Schools officials are investigating after an incident involving a potential weapon in one of the district's schools.
GRPS staff was notified at the end of the school day on Monday about a rumor that a student was seen with what appeared to be a handgun in one of the bathrooms inside Innovation Central High School.
GRPS security officers immediately contacted Grand Rapids police and conducted a joint investigation Monday night into Tuesday morning.
After multiple interviews, investigators concluded that an apparent handgun of some kind was involved in the incident.
Any student determined to have possessed a weapon on school property is immediately suspended from school pending the outcome of disciplinary expulsion procedures.
To add an additional precautionary measure, GRPS administrators decided to conduct an unannounced weapon search at the start of school Tuesday morning.
All GRPS school buildings are equipped to conduct random and unannounced weapon searches at any time using metal detectors. This process is outlined for all of our families in the Scholar Resource & Responsibility Guide which is electronically distributed to families each school year.
“We are disappointed to learn that a student made a poor choice in bringing an apparent weapon onto school property,” said Larry Johnson, GRPS Chief of Staff and Executive Director of Public Safety & School Security. “We are grateful that we were able to get to the bottom of this before anyone was hurt. That happened because our scholars alerted us to the rumor, and our team didn’t stop investigating until we figured out what happened.”
A letter detailing the incident was sent home to parents.
Anyone with information about this incident or other potential safety concerns for our scholars is asked to contact school leaders or call Silent Observer at 616-774-2345. Students may also provide information anonymously about any threat to a school in the state of Michigan by calling 855-5-OK2SAY.
Original source can be found here.
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