Law enforcement and school officials have concluded their investigation into a bullet found at a local elementary school.
On Jan. 24, a custodian at Edgewood Elementary found a .22 caliber bullet on the ground under the rug in a third-grade classroom. Law enforcement was contacted immediately. Investigators said they did not know how the bullet got under the rug or how long it had been there.
The bullet was found after school hours and on the weekend so it did not disrupt classes. Even so, district officials notified school families of the incident. Investigators interviewed everyone involved but were at a standstill with the investigation until a parent contacted the district.
“After reading the communication describing the incident, a parent responded that their child had taken the bullet to school,” Edgewood Principal Thomas Holdren wrote in an email to parents Friday.
Holdren stressed there were, “no negative intentions by the student in regards to why the bullet was brought to school.”
Deputy Chief of Police Tony Brooks said one student told another student he had shot a .22 caliber gun with his father. That student’s friend did not believe him, so he brought a bullet to school to show his friend as proof.
Brooks said there would not be charges in the incident and believes “the matter is being handled by the school as far as any discipline there might be.”
The principal said the parent did the right thing contacting the school.
“Even though speaking up can be hard to do, modeling for your children how to do the right thing, even when it is hard, will teach them to have the courage to ‘see something, say something’ in the future.”
He added, “we all have a personal responsibility when it comes to student safety.”
Holdren said the school has used the incident as a teaching opportunity. He said parents with questions may contact him.
While this solves the bullet at Edgewood, officials have no leads about a .22 caliber bullet found at Marysville High School a day earlier. That day, a student saw the shell, picked it up and quickly notified a teacher, who contacted district administrators. Officials determined the bullet did not pose a “specific threat to student and staff safety,” so a school lock down was not necessary.
“No one has come forward with any information about that incident,” Brooks said.
Brooks said that aside from being the same caliber, the bullets are from different manufacturers. Additionally, he said one of the shells appeared to be new and the other appeared to be older.
“There is no reason to believe these two are in any way connected,” Brooks said.