BARROW COUNTY, Ga. — A 14-year-old Apalachee High School student is in a Regional Youth Detention Center after deputies accused him of bringing a gun to school Wednesday.
Deputies are not releasing his name because he’s considered a juvenile in this case.
He faces four charges -- two counts of possession of a weapon on school grounds, theft by taking and minor in possession of a firearm.
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“There’s a lot of anxiety among both staff and students still,” said Floyd Cooper. “People are still healing, and this shook a lot of people up.”
Cooper is a math teacher who survived a shooting rampage at the school four months ago.
According to investigators, student Colt Gray snuck a gun into school, shot and killed two teachers and hurt nine other people.
“The reason I’m talking, I want to make sure parents know what’s going on before they send their kids to school,” Cooper said.
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He said district leaders called a staff meeting Wednesday afternoon to inform them that deputies just arrested a student for bringing a gun to school again.
This time, the leaders said no one was hurt and no threats were made to students or staff.
Cooper said the leaders in the meeting told teachers a parent called it in after her child saw his classmate with it.
“They had an eight-minute window where they tried to find the student, neutralize the threat, and they had the opportunity to put the school on lockdown,” Cooper said.
Instead, Cooper said students filled the hallways to change classes.
“No lockdown,” Cooper said.
In the staff meeting, the teacher said district leaders told them they did not find the correct student at first.
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Parents like Tinya Brown said that’s what students told them as well.
“I’m very upset. I’m livid. I’m angry,” Brown said.
The Barrow County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement: “School Resource Officers and administrators were able to locate the student and take custody of the weapon without incident.”
The Barrow County School System also released a statement, saying, in part: “The weapon was reported, and the student was immediately taken into custody by law enforcement.”
Parents have been pushing the board to add weapon detectors and bag policies for the past four months. The board has been collecting data and surveying families in that time.
Students and parents rallied outside the school after Wednesday’s gun incident. They held up signs and chanted “’Chee for change!” to drivers passing by the campus.
They said they hoped the school board saw the demonstration. Cooper said he did.
“We understand this brings up many different feelings in each of us,” wrote Superintendent Dr. Dallas LeDuff in a letter to parents. “The Barrow County Board of Education has called a meeting for 4 p.m. tomorrow, Jan. 9 to discuss in Executive Session the immediate safety enhancement options for our schools. We will update you all following the board meeting tomorrow with any changes regarding school procedures.”
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