Trending
MILL CREEK -- A student brought a loaded .45 caliber pistol to Tygarts Valley Middle/High School Thursday in a backpack, resulting in the student being taken into custody and then transported to a juvenile facility, officials said.
On Thursday morning, "Randolph County PRO deputies and (West Virginia State) troopers responded to a call that a student had brought a firearm on the bus and then to TVHS," Randolph County Sheriff Rob Elbon posted to social media Friday morning.
"The information came late in the afternoon around the end of the school day after students had left for the day. An investigation was then started on the case by Sgt. Danny Pennington, Cpl. Ethan Carr and Deputy Rocky Hebb.
"The investigation revealed an area of interest where a search was conducted by the State Police," Elbon's post stated. "The continued search resulted in a loaded .45 caliber firearm being located in a backpack.
"Multiple statements were collected and later last evening a juvenile was taken into custody. The juvenile was transported to an emergency detention hearing in Randolph County Circuit Court. After a hearing the juvenile was transported by Deputy James Wolfe of the Sheriff's Office to a juvenile facility in the state."
Dr. Shawn Dilly, the Randolph County Superintendent of Schools, wrote in a social media post Friday morning that "We are deeply grateful to the students who came forward and to everyone who acted swiftly to protect the safety of our school community. Ensuring the well-being of our students and staff is our top priority, and we will continue to work diligently to maintain a safe learning environment."
Elbon said police officers, school staff and students worked well together during the investigation.
"It's a big deal to have our PRO officers in the schools," Elbon told The Inter-Mountain Friday afternoon. "The guys were starting a hunter safety course at the end of the day that they were giving to some of the kids at Tygarts Valley. When they got reports about the gun they went right to work and jumped on it. All three PRO officers kicked into gear and Sean Miller from the State Police was in the area and he came in and started looking for the gun. (The troopers) jumped right in and helped us.
"It got reported pretty quick and thankfully everything worked out," Elbon said. "We had some conflicting reports that it was an airsoft gun, that it was this and that, but it turned out to be a loaded .45."
"We are still investigating the incident to see if there was some kind of a plan involved," the sheriff told The Inter-Mountain. "There's some allegations and we are still trying to put everything together. It could have been a bad situation. Thank God nobody got hurt."
On social media, Elbon wrote, "I would like to thank my deputies, State Police troopers, school officials, Randolph County Prosecutor Michael Parker and Randolph County Circuit Judge David Wilmoth for their quick response to our investigation.
"I would especially like to thank the students who quickly reported this incident to officials which resulted in a swift, safe resolution to the situation. Our continued goal is to provide a safe and secure learning environment for all of our students."