Student found with gun at Hickman High School
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A student at Hickman High School is in custody after they were allegedly found with a gun in their backpack on Monday afternoon, according to a letter sent to parents by Columbia Public Schools.
The letter states that the school’s weapons detection system detected the gun in the student’s backpack.
The gun was confiscated and the student was taken into custody by a school resource officer, the letter states. The email does not identify the name or age of the student. The incident is under investigation and a threat assessement is underway.
This is the second time this month a gun was found on district grounds, with a gun being found in a student’s vehicle on Sept. 16 at Rock Bridge High School. Down in Cole County on Monday, a Blair Oaks student was also found with a gun in their vehicle.
ABC 17 News has reached out to Columbia Public Schools and the Columbia Police Department.
The district previously said the weapons detection systems, which were installed in 2024, were implemented at its high schools to deter and detect items that could threaten school safety.
In the letter to families, Superintendent Jeff Klein said the system and the staff operating it “did exactly what they were supposed to do to keep our school safe.”
Klein also said school administrators, safety and security staff and the school resource officer “acted immediately” in response to the incident.
Students who spoke with ABC 17 News Monday said they generally feel safe at Hickman, but say that the process for entering the building could be more efficient.
Fareshta, a Hickman junior, said students regularly have to prepare their belongings for the weapons detection system when entering the building.
“We have to take our laptops out every time we come in and take it out early in the morning even if we are late to class,” she said.
She added that the process can also create delays for students arriving at school.
“In the mornings there’s only two doors to have the check-ins, the weapon detectors, and then only one if you’re late to class and it just takes a while,” she said. “Then we’re always late to class. They can definitely do a better job.”
All three students that ABC 17 News spoke said they were not aware the incident had happened while they were at school.
Under Columbia Public Schools Board Policy, weapons are prohibited on district property unless specifically allowed by the policy or authorized for a school-sponsored or school-sanctioned activity.
The policy specifically prohibits firearms on school property under the Missouri Safe Schools Act.
Students who bring or possess weapons prohibited under state law on school property or at a school activity face a suspension of at least one calendar year or expulsion, and the incident must be reported to law enforcement as required by law. The superintendent can modify a suspension or expulsion on a case-by-case basis.
The district’s policy also prohibits other weapons, including all knives, dangerous weapons and ammunition or components of prohibited weapons.
CPS policy allows student property, including vehicles parked on district property, to be searched when there is reasonable suspicion of a violation of law, district policy or other student rules.
The policy says reasonable suspicion must be based on facts known to school administrators, credible information or reasonable inferences from those facts or information. Searches are required to be limited in scope based on the original justification.
If administrators reasonably suspect a student is concealing a weapon or other evidence of a crime beneath their clothing and the student refuses to surrender the item, district policy says law enforcement officials will be contacted to conduct the search.
The district is also required to report school safety incidents and credible school safety threats involving a firearm or other weapons defined under Missouri law to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, along with other reports required by law.
The district did not provide additional details about the student or gun involved in Monday’s incident.
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