Student found with gun at Doss High School on Thursday

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A student brought a gun to Doss High School on Thursday.

"This afternoon a student was found with a gun in their possession. It was never used in a threatening manner," said Jefferson County Public Schools spokesperson Jennifer Brislin. "Security and local police were contacted and the student has been cited. We are also following JCPS policies and procedures in addressing the incident with the student."

According to the district's student handbook, weapons are not tolerated and bringing a gun to school is treated as one of the most serious offenses a student can make in a school.

"Weapons/Dangerous Instruments are not tolerated in the district. Any student who is knowingly in possession of or who is involved in the transfer, storage, or use of a firearm will be referred to an alternative school site for a period of one calendar year and not be allowed to return to their previously assigned school," the JCPS Student Support and Behavior Intervention Handbook reads.

"There are these gangs, the guns are coming into school, and so how are we going to get our arms around this?" asked Louisville Metro Police Chief Erika Shields. "You can't keep taking guns off of kids and think this is going to end well."

Shields said school resource officers — which JCPS doesn't have — could tell police about conflicts inside school and who may retaliate on the streets.

"I'm not going to fault the schools. I would love for us to be able to get a better handle on the violence and on the gangs, so it's not so much their problem, that's what LMPD needs to take ownership of," she said. "But I will say we are in this space now, and we have to figure how to get out of it, and that's going to require a level of collaboration I don't know has ever really occurred."

This wasn't the only gun found at a JCPS school this week. On Monday, a student brought one to Liberty High School.

At JCPS, incidents involving weapons are considered a violation of the law and are treated as a Level 4 offense, the most serious offense level in the JCPS Student Handbook. However, not every student will follow the exact same track of consequences.

JCPS Chief of Communications Renee Murphy said student discipline can be "very individualized, meaning each circumstance could come with a variety of factors that are weighed in determining the course of action."