Lincolnwood Elementary School went into a brief lockdown Tuesday after a teacher learned an 8-year-old student had a loaded handgun magazine.
The boy had told his teacher the magazine was in his school bag, Evanston Police Department Commander Ryan Glew wrote in a news release. Officers responded to the school and recovered the magazine around 9:15 a.m.
The officers checked the school for guns, but found none, he added. During the search, the school went into a lockdown that lasted around 90 minutes, according to a Evanston/Skokie School District 65 spokesperson.
“There were no threats to the school and the investigation did not reveal any intent by the juvenile to cause harm,” Glew wrote.
Police and District 65 officials determined the magazine was from a handgun that belonged to a family member of the boy. The gun was turned over to police and the child was released to his family. He will not be referred to juvenile court because of his age, Glew said.
The discovery comes months after a Virginia teacher was shot by a 6-year-old and days after three teens were shot, one fatally, at Evanston’s Clark Street Beach. Earlier last week, dozens of schools across Illinois were affected by calls falsely reporting active shooters and falsely threatening shooting attacks.
“In today’s world, we know the fear associated with this type of news,” wrote Terrence Little, District 65 Assistant Superintendent of Operations, in an email sent to Lincolnwood families after the lockdown.
The school district is sending social workers to support students in need, he said.
“Nothing is more important to us than the safety and well-being of our students and staff. We will always err on the side of caution in our decision-making,” Little wrote.
