Student allegedly brings gun to school, community reacts

JACKSON, Tenn. — School is an environment where children are supposed to feel safe.

But Thursday, North Side High School students were allegedly put in danger by one of their peers.

Investigators saidthe school was placed on a lock down because a student allegedly brought a gun to school.

The lock down brought many mixed emotions from both students and parents.

“It’s scary, it’s terrifying,” Tamara Cole, a mother of two North Side High School students said.  “As soon as the school went off of lock down, I came and got my kids out of school.”

Cole said she was scared for the lives of her children.

“When they come to school, you think they’re safe,” she said. “And just to know anything can happen, it scares me to death.”

School resource officers responded and removed the student from the classroom.

The student was later arrested.

Jackson-Madison County School system employees say the lock down was not meant to scare anyone.

“Our staff is trained to follow certain protocols within different instances in our school,” Ginger Carver, marketing and public relations specialist for the school system said.  “In this instance, it was just the best procedure to keep the students in their classrooms.”

North Side students described the moments after the lock down as “chaotic.”

“Everybody said “code red,” A’yona Porter, a senior said. “And once that happened, lights starting going on and off really fast and all you could hear was students running down the hallway.”

Carver with the school system said parents should use this as a reminder to be involved in their children’s lives.

“Just be aware of what our students are doing before they come to school,” she said. “Just be aware and ask questions. ”

North Side parents were notified of the situation by the district parent information system.

Investigators said the student is now being held in the Madison County Detention Center and more information will available as the investigation continues.