Anderson High School closes Friday after arrest of student with gun
ANDERSON, Ind. (WISH) — Two Anderson schools will be closed Friday after a threat to the district and the arrest of an Anderson High School student found with a firearm, according to district authorities.
Anderson High School and the Anderson Career Center will be closed Friday. An additional but separate threat to the school for Friday was deemed to be not credible late Thursday afternoon and the school closings are solely based on the student’s arrest. The two threats are not related.
Anderson Police Department took the student, who has not been identified, into custody for a criminal investigation.
Anderson Community Schools said Thursday on social media, “This will allow school staff to do a thorough search of Anderson High School before students return next week. Anderson High School and D26 Career students will return to school on Monday, November 21, 2022.”
Superintendent Joe Cronk said, “We take every tip that we get seriously and we investigate it to the best of our ability. Most of the time they turn out to be rumors, but, in situations like this, that validate the investigate-everything protocol.”
Staff discovered the handgun after another student reported seeing mentions of it on social media.
“Any time you’ve got a weapon in school, it’s a big deal. I mean it’s a huge deal. We don’t know what could have happened, what might have happened,” Cronk said. “This is why we train. As you train, you will perform, and this is what happened now.”
The superintendent also said, “Everyone behaved exactly as they should. The staff member that found the weapon behaved exactly as he should of. Everyone remained calm and kept the scene safe. There was no panic. The students didn’t panic.”
One student told News 8 he was near the area where the gun was found. Riley Cameron, an Anderson High School freshman, said, “I thought it was just a procedure, a drill, at first, but then they started taking it more seriously. I was just sitting in the class, and they called a lockdown.”
Cameron said the situation did not scare him. “Not really, because it was right next to me in the hall, but it didn’t really bother me because I didn’t really care.”
Parents were notified of the gun, and information was shared on social media around 1:45 p.m. Thursday.
“All students and staff at the building are safe. Anderson High School will remain in secure status until normal dismissal at 2:30 pm,” Bradley Meadows, the director of district and community engagement said in a statement Thursday.
The school originally posted on Facebook at 9:40 a.m. Thursday about the circulation of a social media threat for Friday. “Out of precaution, we will have increased law enforcement presence today and tomorrow at the school,” the post said.
All practices and events were canceled Thursday night, including a girls swim meet and a boys basketball preseason scrimmage.
