A 10-year-old student brought a loaded handgun to Glassell Park Elementary School, causing a stir in the community and prompting an immediate investigation. The gun, identified as a .40-caliber Glock 22, was shown to a fellow student on Tuesday and subsequently reported by a third student to school officials, KTLA reported. Responses from shaken parents have come swiftly, with calls for increased on-campus security measures and screenings.
Following the incident, Claudia Pelayo, the school's principal, communicated to parents that swift action was taken to secure the weapon. The Los Angeles School Police Department and Region West Operations are looking to closely investigate precisely how the handgun was brought onto school grounds, according to FOX LA. Parental pressure has mounted on the Board of Education with a petition to boost the budget for school policing, amid a recent climb in weapons incidents across Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) schools, suggesting a troubling trend.
In the face of this incident, one parent expressed their unease to KTLA, stating, "It’s a little scary. I’ve already been skeptical about to bring my kid to public school anyway because of things like this." This sentiment echoes a broader community concern over the safeguarding of children within school environments.
Within the context of these fears, LAUSD has been witnessing a rise in weapons-related incidents on campus. The 2018-19 school year witnessed 669 such events, a number which declined the following year. However, the concerning increase resumed over the subsequent school years, culminating in 903 incidents being reported through April 15 this year, FOX LA emphasized.
