Gun discovered in Westside student’s backpack after metal detectors removed

Westside High School was on lockdown after a gun and marijuana were found in a student’s backpack Thursday.

At 1:30 p.m., a hall monitor discovered an unloaded gun inside a non-regulation book bag, according to a statement from Bibb County schools.

The school went into a precautionary lockdown that was lifted about 15 minutes later.

Campus police officers immediately responded and detained the 15-year-old boy, according to the statement.

Bibb County schools Chief of Staff Keith Simmons said Friday morning that the student faces charges of unlawful possession of a handgun and marijuana possession.

Simmons could not say why the student brought the weapon on campus but indicated the young man was “being truthful.”

Parents were notified about the incident through the school messenger system a couple hours later.

“We are committed to ensuring safety each day, and Westside High School will remain a safe place for our students and staff,” school system spokeswoman Stephanie Hartley said in an email.

Earlier this year, Westside was chosen for a pilot program testing metal detectors that were installed in the late spring.

“The pilot is intended to help us truly learn what the advantages and disadvantages are, and if that is a direction we can and should go in,” Superintendent Curtis Jones said in a statement at the time.

By the end of the school year, the program was discontinued, Hartley said in response to a Telegraph inquiry weeks ago.

“We will move forward with our current security plan of random searches at schools and of student book bags throughout the school year,” Hartley stated in a July 30 email.

While talking to reporters Friday, Simmons said the pilot program revealed that up to five school personnel had to staff each detector to adequately search items coming in.

The system opted instead to purchase more than 100 portable metal detecting wands for the random searches.

Although they hoped to have the equipment in place at the start of the school year, the high demand for the wands has caused a delay in shipment, Simmons said.

Random searches were supposed to have begun this week, he said.

The school system also acquired a new K9 Labrador retriever named Kandy that is trained to detect weapons. Another K9, Deva, a shepherd, is used to detect drugs in the schools.

Earlier this year, the school system revised its security protocol after a Jan. 10 incident in which a Taylor Elementary fourth-grader brought a loaded handgun and 10 rounds of ammunition to school. The weapon was discovered inside a student’s jacket in an empty classroom at the end of the school day.

Parents called for a clear backpack policy, bag searches or metal detectors after the episode. The county doesn’t have a district-wide clear/mesh backpack policy, but several schools require them.

Westside currently specifies mesh or clear backpacks, and any book bag not meeting code must be turned over as happened Thursday, Simmons said.

Other schools in the district that require clear or mesh backpacks are: Alexander II, Bruce, Burdell-Hunt, Appling, Ballard Hudson, Southwest middle and high schools, Central, Northeast and Rutland.

Some principals have said that clear or mesh bags don’t allow much visibility, and prohibited items are usually found in coats and pockets, not backpacks, Jones said previously.

The system’s revised policy includes perimeter cameras as well as cameras in classrooms, hallways and common areas.

School resource officers are stationed in each middle and high school and patrol the feeder elementary schools in their zone.

The main entrance of each school is kept locked, and visitors must press a buzzer and show identification before the door is opened, said David Gowan, director of safety and security, in a video released by the district in March. Once inside, a vestibule area routes visitors to the office, and there is another locked door that leads to the rest of the school.

District employees have ID badges with different levels of clearance that allow them access to the buildings. Student supervision is in place at every school. Elementary school students are escorted by their teachers from the classroom to the lunchroom, restroom and other areas. At the middle and high schools, teachers monitor the hallways during class changes.

After the weapon was confiscated Thursday, school system administrators again discussed safety protocols Friday morning.

Simmons said the system does not want safety precautions to create an adverse learning environment by having children go through intense screenings every day.

No weapons were found when the metal detectors were in place at Westside. Although Simmons said he realizes the detectors could be a deterrent, they haven’t stopped people from trying to bring weapons into courthouses or airports.

“I’m not naive enough to think that something as a gun being found on a campus is not disruptive,” Simmons said. “This is just indicative of our school community, our greater community.”

The system does have about a half-dozen walk-through metal detectors that will continue to be used at sporting events.

“Our greater community has its set of challenges, and we are a part of that,” Simmons said. “I suspect that our school facilities are as safe if not safer than most of the organizations in our area.”

Information from The Telegraph archives contributed to this report.

This story was originally published September 7, 2018 at 10:48 AM.