Evanston’s Chute Middle School was put on soft lockdown Monday after an eighth grade student brought a loaded gun to the school, authorities said.
“It is alarming,” said Evanston police commander Ryan Glew. “It is concerning. Even though there was no credible threat, there is always inherent hazards and dangers with a gun in a school.”
At approximately 11 a.m. Evanston police responded to Chute in the 1400 block of Oakton Avenue for reports of a loaded 9 millimeter handgun recovered from a student, Evanston police said in a release. It said an initial investigation revealed that a student, 13, was showing the handgun to other students and that one of those students alerted school officials about the handgun.
“The gun was recovered by the school, from the student without incident,” said Glew. “Police responded, took custody of the gun and transported the student to the station for further investigation without any issues.”
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There were not any injuries.
“There is no indication the student brought the gun to the school with an intent to harm anyone,” Glew said.
He also said the investigation is ongoing, is in its early stages and police are working to determine where the student got the firearm.
The school was initially put on soft lockdown, however the lockdown was later lifted. Evanston/Skokie School District 65 did not return calls for comment.
“When you’ve recovered a gun in school I think it’s well within good reason and safety of the children to do a soft lockdown in the wake of recovering the gun, seeing what the investigation is going to reveal seeing if there any additional information to indicate if there’s a continued threat,” said Glew. “In this situation there wasn’t a continued threat.”
The Chute School incident happened less than a month after a 6-year-old Virginia student pulled a handgun from a backpack in early January and shot and wounded a teacher while she was teaching his first-grade class.
A student was charged last November when they brought a gun to Evanston Township High School. A gun was also recovered from a summer camp attendee at ETHS last June.
“We would implore upon students, parents, school staff that when they are aware of a gun in a school they would notify the proper authorities so that gun can be quickly and safely recovered,” Glew said.
Brian L. Cox is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.