CRYSTAL, Minnesota — Robbinsdale Area Schools and Crystal Police confirm another incident of a gun brought to school in the Robbinsdale district, the fourth such report in recent weeks.
The latest incident happened Wednesday at Neill Elementary School in Crystal. Police said staff members working with the Adventure Club after-school program reported a BB gun had been discovered in a student's backpack.
"During Adventure Club after school, while a staff member was looking for a missing water bottle, they found the BB handgun in a student’s backpack," principal Jen Smith said in a letter to parents. "Police were notified immediately and the item was confiscated. Two students were taken to the school office to participate in an investigation, which is currently underway. No threat was made towards students or staff."
Smith said no students were in the room when the BB gun was discovered.
Police and the school said there was no information about any threats made toward any students or staff members.
The gun discovery at Neill Elementary follows other reports of students bringing guns into middle schools in the Robbinsdale district in recent weeks. In the most prominent case, the district is investigating a video that surfaced on social media this month, appearing to show a student with a gun inside of a Sandburg Middle School bathroom.
The earlier incidents prompted teachers and parents to speak at a contentious school board meeting on Monday; more criticism followed when the board went into a closed session to discuss the matter at their meeting. The Robbinsdale school board chair responded with a statement Tuesday, saying they are reevaluating how their schools handled these most recent incidents and how they should handle gun reports moving forward.
