KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Two students at Hocker Grove Middle School in Shawnee brought guns to class Wednesday, school officials said.
In a letter to parents, Principal Chris Kase said other students notified school administrators of the incident.
Those administrators located the students at the school and confiscated the weapons.
No one was hurt, and Kase said there was no indication the students planned to use the weapons at the school.
Following the announcement of what happened, parents of students voiced concern.
“Obviously, you freak out because of the shootings going on,” Sarah Gutierrez said as she waited to pick her daughter up at Hocker Grove on Thursday. “You want to have your kids safe in school too.”
Gutierrez applauded the effort from the staff to keep the school safe but wondered how the incident could have occurred in the first place.
“I don’t understand how a kid could think it’s okay to bring a gun loaded or unloaded or a toy,” she said. “It’s not a time to be playing around anymore.”
Late Thursday afternoon, the two students, identified as 13-year-old males, were charged in Johnson County Juvenile Court with one count each of being a juvenile in possession of a firearm. They remained in custody at the juvenile detention center following a hearing. They will return to court next week.
With the two teenagers now facing charges, Gutierrez hoped a similar type of incident wouldn’t happen again at the school.
“More parents need to be more aware of what’s going on,” she said.
Kase reminded parents to have conversations with their children about what types of things are and are not acceptable to bring to school, and to check their backpacks regularly.
