Police: Ward Melville HS student accidentally brought weapon to school
Officials tell News 12 the student took a parent's bag by mistake. The parent is in law enforcement.
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The Three Villages School District says a student at Ward Melville High School brought a backpack to school this morning with a weapon inside.
According to a notice sent out to parents, district officials say the student took a parent’s bag by mistake. The parent is in law enforcement. When the student realized, they immediately reported it to a teacher.
No one was hurt, but some parents like Tina Gabriele, of South Setauket, say this was too close to home.
"That’s not OK. That’s unacceptable,” she said. "I just think the guns should stay at home. They should stay away from the children. If the police officers, if they have them, they should lock them up and the kids should not know where they are.”
John Jay College of Criminal Justice professor Michael Alcazar says an internal affairs unit of a law enforcement agency will work to determine if there's a pattern of an officer not safeguarding their weapon after something like this happens.
"Failing to safeguard your weapon is pretty serious,” he said. "They're going to find out what happens normally in the house. How did this happen? How does he secure his weapon? How did the child have access to the weapon? Is this normal practice for you?"
Suffolk police say it was a non-threatening situation and believe the incident is non-criminal in nature. Police say the investigation into what happened is ongoing.
