GRESHAM, Ore. — Teachers and school administrators met on Monday following the arrest of an armed Gresham High School student on Friday. The student threatened a pedestrian with a gun outside the school and then brought the weapon inside, according to Gresham police.
Late Friday morning, someone reported to Gresham High School staff that they had been threatened with a gun. The victim believed that the suspect was a student at the school and had taken the weapon into the building. Staff identified the student, contacted police and "moved the student to a secure area," Gresham police said.
According to Gresham police, the student wouldn't let anyone search him, but as officers arrived, he admitted to having a gun. Officers found a nine-millimeter gun and a full magazine in the student's backpack. They were taken into custody and their case was referred to juvenile court. The identity of the student has not been released because of their age.
Gresham police did not release any information regarding whether the student and the person who was allegedly threatened know each other.
Some students including senior Elizabeth Westbrook, were frustrated by the school not going into lockdown while dealing with the situation.
"If that search [of the student] went south, everybody who was coming in during lunch could have been put at risk," said Westbrook. "My life would have been at risk."
The teacher's union, the Gresham-Barlow Education Association (GBEA), told KGW that a teacher made a report to building administration expressing concern about the student's behavior more than three days before the incident on Friday and received no response. Leaders with GBEA also said they are concerned whether district protocols do enough to mitigate potential threats.
"Many teachers report that they received the notice of this student bringing a loaded gun to school via email about five minutes before the administration notified parents of the event via Parent Square," the union said in a statement. "Teachers with students in their classrooms received no prompt from administration to check their email or follow safety protocols during the event."
The Gresham-Barlow School District provided a statement to KGW, Monday afternoon.
"We appreciate the work of our district and school staff to safely deal with this situation, and we thank the community member who provided us with the information necessary to investigate and bring closure to this incident," the statement read. "Only by working as a school community in partnership with parents and the community can we create and maintain the level of safety we want for our students and staff."
Last school year, Westbrook and other students went to the school board. They shared concerns over a string of incidents including drug use and frequent, violent fights at Gresham High School. They asked school officials to raise more awareness about the incidents and renewed their plea, this year.
"They still said they wouldn't, and then the incident on Friday occurred," said Westbrook. "We believe that if they had raised more awareness toward these things it would have been more preventable."