Two students at Clarkston High School were arrested after they were reportedly found with a weapon on campus, triggering an immediate lockdown as police and school staff responded. The DeKalb County School District said students and staff were safe following the incident, though officials have not disclosed what type of weapon was involved or the identities or ages of the students involved.
According to the DeKalb County School District, Clarkston High School staff and district police responded to reports that two students had a weapon on campus, and the school locked down right away as officers moved in. The district said police ultimately arrested both students, and that they will face legal and disciplinary consequences tied to the incident.
Georgia law generally prohibits possessing a weapon in a school safety zone, at a school function or on school-provided transportation. The state’s definition is broader than firearms: it also covers certain knives and other items that could be used to injure someone. The district has not identified the item in this case, so the public information does not establish what specific legal provisions may apply. Georgia’s attorney general summarizes the school-zone prohibition and the statute’s broad definition of a weapon.
In a letter to the school community, Principal Dr. Shavonne Charles said Clarkston High School staff and DeKalb County School District police handled the situation promptly and professionally. She said the school remains committed to keeping students and staff safe, and she encouraged students and families to report any suspected unsafe situations at school to a parent, guardian or staff member.
What Remains Unknown
The district has not released the specific weapon that was found, nor has it shared the students' names or ages, consistent with how it has handled similar incidents in the past. The station notes it reached out to the school district for further details following the lockdown.
That reticence echoes an earlier case at Druid Hills High School, also in the DeKalb County School District, where the district would not reveal what type of weapon was discovered after a student brought one to campus. In that incident, the school's Evolv eXpedite detection system alerted staff, and administrators searched the student's bag and secured the weapon before anyone was hurt, according to wsbtv.com's earlier reporting.
DeKalb’s use of detection technology is part of its broader safety setup: the district says it employs school resource officers and has implemented EVOLV Express weapons-detection systems in schools serving grades 6–12. That provides context for the earlier Druid Hills incident, where the system alerted staff, but it does not establish whether a detector played any role in the Clarkston response. The district’s description of its safety measures lists both the detection system and officers.
A Regional Push for Detection Technology
Weapons-related discipline has remained a persistent issue across metro Atlanta school systems. During the 2023-24 school year, Gwinnett County recorded 191 disciplinary actions involving knives, five involving guns and 204 involving other weapons, per the same wsbtv.com account. Cobb County documented 145 incidents involving knives, nine involving guns, 47 involving other weapons and two involving other firearms that same year, while Fulton County logged 144 discipline incidents involving weapons.
In response to these numbers, Gwinnett County Public Schools has been installing weapons detectors in its middle and high schools, the outlet reported. At the state level, the Georgia House has passed a bill that would require weapons detectors in every public school building, including elementary schools, though the article notes it does not address whether that measure has since become law.
For now, families in Clarkston are left with the district's assurance that the school responded quickly and that students and staff were not harmed. Dr. Charles's message to the community reiterated that the school's focus remains on prevention and encouraged anyone with safety concerns to speak up before an incident occurs.
