A gun was found Wednesday during an altercation between two students at James Denman Middle School in San Francisco, police said.
The gun, which was found by a school staff member, was never fired, and no one was hurt, officials said. The students involved in the altercation were detained and the gun was seized by police.
“The weapon was never discharged, it was never brandished, it was immediately confiscated by staff who called 911, police responded and they are on scene investigating,” said Laura Dudnick of the San Francisco Unified School District.
Officers initially responded to the school at about 12:20 p.m. to investigate a report of a possible shooting and an active shooter inside the school, police said. Officers determined there was no merit to the report.
She said the school went on lockdown as police investigated.
“In this case we have a very robust emergency safety plan for the school and so our protocols worked exactly as they should. We were able to notify families quickly via email, auto dial and text message about the situation and let them know that all students were safe,” said Dudnick.
For parents the discovery was disturbing. Particularly considering recent incidents involving stabbings and guns found on campus at schools in San Jose and Santa Rosa.
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“As soon as I could, I came over,” said Lucia Gonzales.
She rushed over after getting the news from the school.
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“All that they said was everything started with a fight,” said Gonzales.
The district believes it was an isolated incident and say classes will resume as scheduled Thursday and support staff is available for students who would like extra support.
