Twin Rivers School Board opts for stringent enforcement of security policies after student gun incident

BROSELEY —The board has met and the decision has been made not to adopt new policies, but to be more vigilant in enforcing existing security policies in the Twin Rivers R-X school district.

Following the regularly scheduled board meeting Tuesday night, the board — along with school administrators and Superintendent Rob Brown — discussed an incident that took place Monday in Ripley County when a sixth-grade student was discovered to be in possession of a loaded gun in his duffle bag.

“The board determined that existing policies are sufficient, and the policies just need to be more stringently enforced,” Brown explained. “And that is for the purpose of ensuring security at all levels on all campuses.”

Brown said coaches will likely start searching student bags before going anywhere for a school activity.

A statement released Monday night explained the incident occurred as the bus, carrying fifth- and sixth-grade basketball teams, traveled to Naylor High School for a game. A student reportedly alerted a staff member to the presence of the weapon.

“We are very proud of our students for speaking up,” Brown noted. “We want the students to feel encouraged to speak up when they see something wrong. And I’m very proud of the coaches and all the staff involved. They handled everything extremely well.”

According to the previous report, staff members secured the student’s bag and moved the student to the front of the bus, then contacted school administrators and law enforcement. Ripley County sheriff’s deputies responded at 4:30 p.m. Monday to Naylor High School and confiscated the handgun, which was loaded but did not have a round chambered. The student was taken to the Stoddard County Juvenile Detention Center.

“I haven’t heard anything about any developments with the investigation, so far,” Brown said. “I know that there were a lot of student and staff interviews performed by law enforcement.”

According to Butler County Sheriff Mark Dobbs, the Ripley County Sheriff’s Department is in charge of the investigation but the Butler County Sheriff’s Department offered some assistance in the beginning of the investigation by providing video from the bus to the Ripley County Sheriff’s Department.

Ripley County Sheriff Rad Talbert explained there was no evident malicious intent on the part of the student.

“He told us that he didn’t want to hurt anyone,” Talbert said. “We’re working with the Stoddard County Juvenile Office on this case and it’s still early in the investigation.”

Talbert added it is still unknown where the student had acquired the gun.

“Once again, I want to commend the staff and bus driver and everyone involved,” Brown said. “They handled everything very well. It’s a very unsettling and sobering situation to have to deal with. But it serves as an example to everyone that if it can happen here in this little school, it can happen anywhere.”