RICHMOND, Va. -- Richmond Police are investigating after school officials confiscated a gun from a student Monday at Boushall Middle School, Richmond Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras wrote in an email to Richmond School Board members.
A letter later sent to parents Monday afternoon indicated the gun was unloaded and the student did not take the gun out and threaten anyone.
"Our Administrative team, Safety and Security Team, as well as law enforcement, took immediate action and promptly confiscated the inappropriate item," an email from principal LaTonya Waller read. "Please be assured the safety of our students and staff is always my top priority. Please know we take these matters very seriously and disciplinary action will be handed out in accordance with the Student Code of Responsible Ethics."
The email asked parents to check their child's bag to make sure nothing inappropriate or potentially dangerous was brought to school.
Shalia, whose daughter attends Boushall Middle School, said she learned about the discovery when she picked up her daughter Monday afternoon.
"I just picked her up for early dismissal, not knowing that they have a situation going in," she said. "just a simple text, you know, to let us know something, instead of coming out here, seeing the news, it's just very disconcerting."
She agreed with the notion that both parents and the community at large needed to do a better job helping the younger generation.
"[We can] make sure if our kids need therapy or anything that they're going through. Just talk to our kids a little bit more," she said. "If you can't keep [guns] out the house, at least have them safe and where the kids can't get them. But then you have the issue that kids can get them out on the streets. We just have to do better as a community."
The discovery of the gun Monday came after a violent weekend involving students in Richmond.
A 13-year-old Binford Middle School student was killed Friday night in what Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney called an "accidental" inside a home on Stockton Street in Richmond.
In an email obtained by CBS 6, Kamras said the now-deceased child and other students were filming a video and using guns as props when one went off and killed him.
Later that night and less a mile away, near Oak Grove playground, three Richmond Public Schools students were injured in a shooting.
One teenager was shot and two were grazed by bullets. Two of those students attend Richmond Alternative School while the other attends Armstrong High School, according to Kamras.
That student remains under investigation.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
