A Fulton Middle School student is in police custody after school officials were notified that he brought a BB gun and an airsoft pistol to school Monday.
Fulton Public Schools Superintendent Jacque Cowherd said school administrators were informed about the incident early Monday morning after a student told a school official that she noticed another middle school student with a BB gun in his backpack at the bus stop.
"We identified the child, secured the area, secured the weapon and at the time, the police were simultaneously on their way to the building," Cowherd explained.
Before Fulton police arrived, FMS administrators confiscated the BB gun and airsoft pistol from the backpack in the student's locker before 9 a.m, Cowherd said.
Police removed the student in question from the building, taking him and the two weapons into custody.
Cowherd said after FMS Principal Beth Houf had resolved the issue, she released a statement to parents, faculty and students students at about 10:30 a.m to notify them about the incident and assured them that appropriate action was being taken.
Houf praised the student and school official for identifying the potential danger in her statement to parents.
"I applaud the action of the adult and student who reported the information," Houf wrote. "Please continue to remind your children to report any suspicious or potentially dangerous activity to school personnel and/or another adult."
The superintendent recognized school officials for acting quickly to ensure the safety of everyone in the building. Cowherd also commended the same two individuals for being proactive about school safety.
"We're pleased that at least one student had the confidence to tell a school person about this because we were able to deal with it, keep all the kids safe and keep that safe environment in every building," he said. "We're very pleased that our staff has that positive relationship with those students because if they hadn't indicated that they had seen the weapon or somebody had shown them the weapon, we wouldn't have known about it until perhaps some other action was taken with it."
Cowherd said the student responsible for bringing the weapons into the building will face disciplinary consequences that are in accordance with school disciplinary policies.
"Those procedures are starting right now," Cowherd said.