Putnam City Campus Police Investigating How Gun Got Into Middle School With Metal Detector

The Putnam City Campus Police Department is investigating how a student was able to bring a handgun into Hefner Middle School before firing a shot, which did not hit anyone.

The student entered the building through the main entrance at around 7:11 a.m. Friday, the district stated in a news release. At around 7:36 a.m., the boy fired a single shot while he was by himself in a school restroom, said the district. It was unclear if it was an accidental discharge, the district told News 9.

The bullet hit a wall, said AJ Graffeo, director of communications at Putnam Public Schools. No one was hurt and the weapon was recovered.

The boy was cooperative with school administrators and police, the district said. A motive was under investigation.

Stout said the Police Department was investigating where the student got the gun.

News 9 asked Stout how the firearm was able to get into the middle school, given that there was a metal detector at the main entrance. 

"So many people going through and things, and so as we're looking at this and investigating it and looking at all the different angles, looking at the cameras and things that surround that area, so that we can see and kind of get a good idea of what exactly happened, and then figure out what we need to do differently if there was a mix-up," said Stout.

Stout said the metal detection system at Hefner Middle School was working properly. He added that about 10,000 middle and high school students in the district go through metal detectors every day.

Meanwhile, parents told News 9 they were concerned about the time in which they were notified. The district said Hefner Middle School was put on lockdown at 7:36 a.m., just seconds after the student fired the gun. But the district didn't send a message to families about what happened until 8:57 am, about an hour-and-20 minutes later.

"Whenever an incident like this occurs, it is common protocol to put the safety of our campus, our students and our staff first," said Graffeo. "And if we were to notify the public and everything, we would have a whole secondary situation going on that would, you know, be instilling panic, highly-emotional individuals. And so our resources would be spread thin."

Last November, the district said police arrested a student at Putnam City North High School for having a loaded handgun.

Stout said the district is considering putting metal detectors in its elementary schools. That effort is expected to be part of the next bond issue in 2025.