At 9:01 a.m. Thursday, assistant principal Shane Seeley got a tip about a student having a gun.

By 9:04 the individual was in custody.

“When Mr. Seeley was informed of it, (he) immediately informed me of it,” Derby principal Tim Hamblin said. “And law enforcement and everybody immediately had control of it.

“We verified the location of person and … the assistant principals and law enforcement went to that room and had the student come out, and that’s what we dealt with,” Hamblin said.

It was an unloaded handgun, Hamblin said.

“At not point was there a threat made to anybody, no comment ever stated to use it,” Hamblin said.

At about the same time, there were two classes of photography students in the commons working on activities. They were asked to leave by security.

“Just because that student was going to be brought out, and that student is a minor,” Hamblin said.

The handgun was in the student’s backpack.

“What we were told, the tip was, that it had been stolen, and the individual was going to sell it this evening,” Hamblin said.

Thursday’s incident was almost identical to one in March 2018.

“I absolutely had made notes last year (regarding last school year’s gun incident),” Hamblin said. “… (I) referred to those mainly about communication last year I communicated with parents first, then students and staff later.

“This time I worked with the district. I had the district send the communication to parents, the Skylert, and I handled the intercom. But we coordinated that so it would be almost at the exact same time.”

In March, parents received information at 11:30 a.m., while an announcement was made to students at 1:30 p.m.

Hamblin said the communication aspect worked better today.

When asked about a lockdown, Hamblin noted that all classrooms are locked anyway.

“The thing that the police said you would never want do is panic that individual who is in a room with a bunch of kids,” Hamblin said. “So I get it. I have children in the building. It’s contrary to what law enforcement says should actually be done.

“We’re blessed we have (student resource officers) in the building so we can do that.”