A student at a Valley Station middle school came to school with a gun Thursday, according to police and officials at Jefferson County Public Schools.
In a letter to families, Stuart Academy principal Monica Hunter said a staff member found the gun in a student’s backpack.
“The gun was discovered when other students alerted a teacher to the possibility that a fellow student had a gun in a backpack in their classroom,” Hunter wrote.
“The gun was never used in a threatening manner and there was never a direct threat to our school,” she continued.
JCPS’s security and investigations team responded to the incident along with the Louisville Metro Police Department. The student is facing criminal charges, according to Hunter.
This is the second gun police have found on a JCPS campus this week. On Wednesday LMPD found a gun in a student’s backpack at Seneca High School. Officers were there investigating an armed carjacking, and two students were arrested in connection with the crime, according to WDRB News.
The firearm discoveries come amid renewed discussions about bringing school resource officers, or SROs, back into JCPS schools. Proponents of SROs often point to the presence of firearms on campus as evidence that more police presence is needed.
Opponents of SROs say they make many students of color feel unsafe and criminalize student behaviors. Many point to a lack of evidence that SROs prevent school shootings.
