GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — Editor's note: The video above first aired on KARE 11 on Dec. 5, 2022.
Four months after video surfaced of a student brandishing a gun inside a Sandburg Middle School bathroom, Golden Valley Police say two students are now facing felony charges.
On March 22, the department announced that two male students were each charged with one count of possessing ammunition/pistol/assault weapon while under 18 years old in connection to the Nov. 11, 2022 incident, where one student posted a Snapchat video of himself holding a gun inside the school.
Though the incident happened on Nov. 11, police initially said they weren't notified by the school until six days later. At the time, Robbinsdale Area Schools claimed the district had contacted police that day.
“Robbinsdale School officials took five days before they notified our department, then refused to turn over the Snapchat video, stating we would need a search warrant even though the video wasn’t on school property but on a student cellphone and posted on Snapchat,” Golden Valley Police Chief Virgil Green said in a statement released Wednesday.
“We will continue to work closely with the Robbinsdale School District to ensure students and staff are safe at Sandburg," Green added.
The Nov. 11 incident was just one of several cases where a gun was reported inside Robbinsdale Area Schools last fall. Parents, teachers and law enforcement criticized the district for its response and how long it took to notify parents and police about the social media video.
"I'm horrified," one Sandburg parent told KARE 11 in November. "I'm absolutely horrified. You want to send your children to school and the assumption is they're going to be safe."
In response, the district board unanimously voted in favor of updating its school weapons policy in December, to put them in compliance with state law.
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