CLEVELAND, Ohio – Two schools went into lockdown Monday afternoon when authorities learned that a student had brought a gun to school.
Before 2 p.m. Monday, a group of seventh- and eighth-grade students at Litchfield Community Learning Center informed several staff members of a rumor that a student had a weapon in his bag, the district’s spokesman, Mark Williamson, said.
District security, staff and an Akron police student resource officer located the seventh-grade student and found a handgun in his fanny pack, Williamson said. Litchfield, as well as the Firestone Community Learning Center, went under lockdown from 2 to 2:30 p.m. The schools are on Castle Avenue in Akron.
This incident comes just days after the Akron teachers’ union claimed the schools are “not safe” and that superintendent Christine Fowler Mack has “failed students” following two incidents of violence and bomb threats in the district in recent weeks
“After APS Superintendent Christine Fowler Mack told the Board on Monday evening that she wants everyone to feel safe in our schools, our APS students, teachers and staff were subjected to 48 hours of chaos,” Akron Education Association President Pat Shipe said in a news release last week.
“The violence is real. It is not overstated, exaggerated or imagined. We believe that Superintendent Christine Fowler Mack has failed students, parents and teachers. The Akron community deserves more.”
Williamson said the student would face disciplinary action and added that in most instances bringing a weapon to school would call for expulsion.
“It has been rough these past couple of weeks,” he said. “But we are grateful for the quick thinking from students today who reached out when they learned something was wrong.”
The Plain Dealer and Cleveland.com reached out to Akron police for more information including whether the student was arrested
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