This morning at Derby High School there was an incident involving a student and a handgun.

Administration had been tipped off that a student was carrying a gun in his back and brought it to school. They quickly took care of the situation by pulling the student out of class and getting a hold of the weapon.

The student was arrested. The student didn’t make a threat toward anyone at the school. His case was sent to the district attorney’s office.

Hamblin said during homeroom announcements that the situation was handled within six minutes, and that the student’s intent was to sell the gun.

“I wasn’t scared or anything because (assistant principal Travis) Moore and the SRO took care of it real quick, so it didn’t really seem like a problem,” sophomore Philip Icenhour said.

The student was a minor.

“He was telling me how he had a gun in his backpack, but I didn’t believe him at first but it didn’t surprise me because I knew who he hangs out with,” sophomore Adler Schewbach said.

The student got pulled out during class in front of his friends who had no idea what was going on at the time.

“I didn’t feel like he was going to do anything with it, I wasn’t very scared about it but I was shocked that he brought it,” sophomore Weston Johnson said.

The administration sent out an email to all of the parents:

Derby High School Families,

Safety and security are a top priority at Derby Public Schools. We want you to be aware that a DHS student was arrested this morning and taken into custody for possession of a weapon on school property. A tip was given to administration about a student possibly in possession of a weapon. This student was brought in immediately, questioned and a handgun was secured by the school SRO without incident. No threat was made towards students or staff at any time.

Later today the students received a skyward message that said:

Dear Students,

This morning a wonderful student shared with an administrator that a student on campus may have a gun.  Administration and the SRO’s immediately found and detained a student that did, in fact, have a handgun in his possession.  The student was arrested and removed from DHS immediately. No threat was made to any person or staff.

I want to thank the student for acting on the behalf of all DHS students and staff and reporting what was seen.  It has also been reported that the fire drill this morning was part of this situation. The fire alarm was triggered by a fire sprinkler test and had nothing to do with the gun incident.

The student with the weapon will face the maximum penalty the school can pursue under the Safe Schools Act.  Remember if you see something, say something.

Tim Hamblin
Principal
Derby High School

Editor’s note: For more information from principal Tim Hamblin, go here: Editor’s note: Derby principal Tim Hamblin responded to PanthersTale.com questions, including those queries about a lockdown and communication: https://pantherstale.com/16263/news/gun-on-campus-qa-with-principal-tim-hamblin/