Student at Union Intermediate High School suspended for bringing a gun to school

Authorities arrested a student at Union Intermediate High School for bringing an unloaded gun to school. It happened Monday and the school can't say why the student might have done it. <br/><br/>News

Tuesday, December 21st 2004, 12:51 pm

By: News On 6

Authorities arrested a student at Union Intermediate High School for bringing an unloaded gun to school. It happened Monday and the school can't say why the student might have done it.

News on 6 reporter Steve Berg says details are few and far between because school leaders say they are bound by federal privacy laws.

The News on 6 talked with the head of the local Parent Teachers Association to get her reaction. Lesa Clark says like any parent would be, she was alarmed to hear a student had brought a gun to school, but she wants to put her feelings in the right context. "Do I wake up every morning and worry about the safety and security of my children at school, no I am not."

School officials declined to speak on camera, but say the student has been suspended. They say the student was arrested without incident after the principal was informed the student has shown the gun to another student. They say the gun was unloaded and that the student had no bullets for the gun.

They say because of privacy laws, they can't elaborate any further, not even on the student's gender or age, although the sheriff's office says it was a 16-year-old boy.

They don't have metal detectors at the Intermediate High School, school officials say they've talked about it the past, but that it hasn't been strongly considered. Clark says she'll defer to the judgment of school officials. "For me to second-guess their actions would not be appropriate and y'know, if they thought they were appropriate, I'm sure we would have them."

School officials say there have not been any other incidents like this that they can recall, definitely no others this semester. The Tulsa County Sheriff's office says the boy did not say why he brought the gun to school.