Gun incident at Louise Junior High ends safely
Seventh grade student found with pellet gun
By BRENDA SOMMER bsommer@leader-news.com

Louise ISD had a plan, rehearsed it and when the report of a possible gun on campus came Friday morning, their preparations ensured the threat was diffused quickly and safely.

"At 8:58 a.m. the call came in from LISD Junior High Principal Donna Kutac," Lt. Danny Marek of the Wharton County Sheriff's Office said. A pellet gun later was found by sheriff's deputies on a junior high girl who felt threatened by a fellow student.

Two girls were arrested on campus Friday morning.

According to Superintendent Andy Peters, junior high seventh and eight grade students were leaving athletics around 8:50 a.m. to join their classmates for breakfast in the cafeteria.

A school aide saw a girl crying, who then told her she thought a seventh grade female classmate had a gun.

"When she told, other kids within seconds went to the same aide and told her the same story," Peters said.

Staff are connected by Nextel "walkie talkie" type phones, which sped communication once the situation arose, he said.

The aide immediately notified Kutac, who locked all the students in the cafeteria, notified administrators and police, and isolated the now-tearful girl suspected of having the gun in a separate room with junior high secretary Laurel Clements.

"She did a wonderful job of keeping her there and calm," Peters said. "We didn't want her scared. This is a child."

As a precaution, Peters ordered the entire campus locked down by 9:05 a.m. Clements and Kutac stayed with the girl, talking to her and trying to see if she had a gun, until police arrived.

El Campo police were first on the scene, and as officers arrived from the sheriff's office, Department of Public Safety, the DARE program and other agencies, some of them teamed with school maintenance personnel to search the grounds for a gun. They even checked rooftops, Peters noted.

In the meantime, a female deputy arrived and found the girl had a pellet pistol tucked into her clothing. The weapon was unloaded.

"I saw it, and it looked like a .38," Peters said. "It looked like a real gun."

He said it's believed the girl, who is new to the school, had been having difficulty with another student and felt threatened.

"For some reason, she felt the need to protect herself," Peters said. "I think she's real scared about something."

Marek said two 13-year-old girls were taken into custody - the one with the weapon, and a girl with whom she'd been arguing.

Charges for the child with the weapon are still being determined, Marek said.

The other girl was arrested on an El Campo PD warrant for harassment.

Peters said he doesn't yet know what penalties the girl faces from the district - children can't bring so much as a toy gun to school - but said they could range from alternative school to a one-year expulsion.

Once the situation was under control, Peters spoke group-bygroup to the entire student body, explaining what had happened to all children from the third grade on up.

"It was impressive to see how the kids responded when we told them the truth," he said.

"I'm really proud of our kids and how they handled themselves.

"In talking to them, I think the kids are just glad the teachers and principals took care of things."

He said he talked to all the students as soon as the situation was under control for several reasons: to squelch rumors, reassure the children, and emphasize the importance of security drills and of students confiding disturbing events to adults.

"It's tough being a kid today, and I'm glad they felt they can talk to our staff," Peters said.

As the campus locked down, children making cell phone calls added to the confusion, spreading the word across the community.

Peters said about three-quarters of students locked in the cafeteria had cell phones, but stopped calling once he asked them to do so.

"The parents started calling here," he said.

"One parent said, 'You didn't notify us,' but I told her, my first priority is to make sure the kids are safe.

"I apologize to parents who called and maybe the secretaries didn't know yet what was happening, but we were busy making sure the kids were safe. I don't want parents worried, but we updated the secretaries as quickly as we could."

Marek said DARE officers were to remain on the campus for the remainder of the day.

Peters said he's pleased with the district's plans for handling such an event and said annual drills for a lockdown scenario had students and staff aware of how to handle Friday's threat, and able to do so when the situation arose.

"They have a plan in place and it worked very well," Lt. Marek said.

"They get an A-plus in our books. They handled it well before the first unit arrived."