Two potentially dangerous situations were brought to peaceful ends on Wednesday when two Texas students were found to have weapons on campus the day after a mass school shooting in the town of Uvalde left 21 dead.
A call came into the Richardson Police Department just before 11 a.m. Wednesday from a business reporting a man holding what appeared to be a rifle. That call led police to Berkner High School, where they conducted a search and investigation, identifying a student officers believed to be connected to the call.
There were no weapons found on the student, but police found weapons inside the student's vehicle. Officers said they recovered an AK-47-style pistol and a replica of an AR-15-style rifle. The student was taken into custody.
Police said they have not found evidence of a plan or intent to harm anyone.
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“We appreciate the citizen who reported it - they saw something and said something, which is exactly what we want students, staff and community to do when they see something that concerns them,” Principal Kristy Cage said in a statement released by Richardson ISD.
According to Richardson ISD, an error resulted in an unrelated school accidentally sending a districtwide message on Thursday that created confusion among many parents.
Meanwhile, in Fort Worth, a similar incident took place at Meacham Middle School, where a student was found with a weapon on campus.
The incident comes as Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes said he's increased officer presence around schools.
“We're working with our Fusion Center, our real-time crime center to monitor any threats that could occur. We've got our volunteers out at campuses being our eyes and ears at our campuses,” Noakes said.
Police said an officer conducted an investigation after being notified that a student possibly had a firearm on campus. The officer found the student and confiscated the weapon.
Meacham Principal Carlos Mendoza sent an alert to parents which read in part: “Thanks to the swift action of our school resource officer and the security team, a weapon was located, and the student has been arrested.”
