The 14-year-old boy accused of bringing a gun to school will stay in custody, a Pierce County juvenile court judge ruled on Thursday.
The 14-year-old boy accused of bringing a gun to a school will stay in custody, a Pierce County juvenile court judge ruled on Thursday.to go into lockdown. Pierce County Sheriff's Deputy Carly Cappetto confirmed the teen in custody didn't go to Graham-Kapowsin High School , but was in the hallway on the first day of school.
RELATED:Cappetto added the 14-year-old tried to run when approached, but the school resource officer and campus security got hold of him quickly. The boy was found to have had a gun in his backpack, she said. Parent Shannon Zimmerly is still shaken by what happened. She was parked nearby, waiting to pick up her daughter from class, when she saw armed deputies arrive. To watch the deputies come in the way they were armed, and watch my daughter come out at the same time was- it was very, very devastating because the school district promises that they will do better," Zimmerly explained. "It feels like they fall into that category of just giving us lip service, not really giving us any sort of guarantee that when we take our children to school, even for an hour at a time, that something isn’t going to pop off. In a Pierce County juvenile courtroom a day later, the state explained more about what investigators found. "It's also alleged there was a round in the chamber of the firearm while also two rounds in the magazine," the attorney explained. The teen faces charges of unlawful firearm possession and possessing dangerous weapons on school facilities. He pleaded "not guilty" to both counts on Thursday, but Commissioner Lise Schumacher found probably cause to move forward with charges. She considered his criminal history, including a charge for attempted robbery, when deciding to keep him behind bars, for now. "Given the seriousness of the allegations as well as concerns for public safety , I think it is imperative that he remain incarcerated at this time," Schumacher stated. There were three other GKHS students reportedly involved. Investigators are looking into how they knew the 14-year-old and what they were doing leading up to the arrest. The teen is due back in court on Sept. 11, when the judge will review whether to keep him in custody or allow home monitoring. A spokesperson with the school district says it is investigating all aspects of the incident in partnership with the sheriff's department and will send a message to district families about the incident, plus some safety and security reminders. Cappetto said the department trains with school districts about how to go into lockdown and handle these types of threats. She said the district did everything correctly and may have helped prevent a dangerous situation.Good afternoon, Graham-Kapowsin High School, Frontier Middle School, and Nelson Elementary School families. This afternoon deputies initiated a brief lockdown at all three schools while they dealt with four youths on the GK campus, two of whom should not have been at GK. Upon searching the non-students, a weapon was found.We are incredibly thankful for the Pierce County Sheriff's Department and the School Resource Officers in our district that are ready to respond at a moment’s notice when incidents like this happen – especially in light of the shooting that occurred in a Minnesota school earlier today. The safety of our students is, and has always been, our number one priority. We encourage everyone to remain vigilant, and to please encourage your students to report anything concerning they see, whether in person or online, to a trusted adult.
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