A Knox County school was plunged into a state of emergency when a student was found with a stolen handgun on campus. According to WATE, the incident occurred at West High School yesterday, where the Knoxville Police Department reported that around 12:30 p.m., the school's SRO and security officers were alerted to a student possibly armed. The student was swiftly detained, and the stolen handgun was seized.

Shortly after the student was taken into custody, the school received another call, this time threatening the safety of those on campus. This prompted officials to quickly move to put the school on hard lockdown. "That threat is not believed to be related to the student who was found with a handgun," stated KPD in their ongoing investigation efforts to track down the source of the call, as reported by WATE. The police cleared the scene and the lockdown was lifted at approximately 2:15 p.m., as confirmed by KPD.

WVLT News conveyed messages from Knoxville Police Department Communications Manager Scott Erland and Knox County Schools Superintendent Jon Rysewyk. Erland clarified that the confiscated weapon was indeed a stolen handgun and affirmed that the suspect in custody is a student. Superintendent Rysewyk praised the response from law enforcement and school staff, saying, "Today was a perfect example of our systems and partnerships working to preserve the safety and security of our students, staff, and schools."

In a chilling reminder of the precariousness of school safety, another Knox County educational institution, Vine Middle School, was also to temporarily go into lockdown on the same day due to a potential threat. Neither school was found to have credible threats after thorough investigations by law enforcement, as indicated in a report by WIVK.