Gun On Lakewood School Bus Seized During First Period: District

LAKEWOOD, NJ — A loaded handgun brought to a Lakewood elementary school on Tuesday was found in the student's backpack during the school's first class period, Lakewood School District officials said Thursday afternoon.

In a news release posted on The Lakewood Scoop, Superintendent Laura Winters said the ongoing review of Tuesday's incident led them to update the sequence of events that happened when a 9-year-old student brought a .22-caliber handgun onto a school bus.

On Tuesday, Lakewood Detective Lt. Gregory Staffordsmith said the handgun was found in the 9-year-old's backpack by security personnel, who had been alerted by an arriving student. "Security was able to identify the 9-year-old and did in fact locate a loaded .22-caliber handgun in his backpack," Staffordsmith said. The 9-year-old and a 10-year-old, both students at Oak Street Elementary School, were charged with weapons possession, Lakewood police said.

The initial reports said the child with the weapon was stopped as he was entering school. In Thursday's press release, however, the district says the gun was found and "secured during the first period of the day."

"Initially the Administration was not certain if there was in fact any danger, including whether a real gun or a toy gun was on school premises," the press release said. "Thereafter, Administration, utilizing their experience and training, in a non-intrusive manner, quickly secured what turned out to be a real gun."

"It was previously reported when the events of Tuesday were unfolding that the student was apprehended upon entering the school. However, after further review and clarification, the gun was secured during the first period of the school day."

The press release says that information was shared with Lakewood police, and they have told the district "the administration acted correctly and in the best interest of the students."

Video from the bus of the incident released to the media shows the two boys handling the firearm, which the 9-year-old brought in his backpack. The father of the 10-year-old, however, has said his child is being unfairly tarnished in the incident.

"My son is wrong because he should've went to the bus driver and handed in the gun or went to school and handed in the gun and he didn't," the father told News 4 New York on Wednesday. "That's the only part my son did wrong."

On Tuesday evening following the incident, Winters and Michael Inzelbuch, the Lakewood school board attorney, said during a roundtable that the district was looking into buying metal detectors for the district's six elementary schools.

On Wednesday, Winters reiterated those plans:

"The Lakewood School District strives to provide a safe learning environment and is reviewing all a spects of its security program," she said in a letter posted to the district's website. "At this juncture, in addition to all the precautions and safeguards in place, the district today (Wednesday) will be purchasing metal detectors and handheld metal detector wands for each of the elementary schools," it said.

A crisis intervention team has been made available to students and staff who want to discuss the event.

Photo from the security footage provided by the Lakewood Police Department