Olathe Northwest student with gun gets into fight with resource officer, admin
OLATHE, Kan. — Olathe police are investigating after a 16-year-old student with a gun in their backpack got into a fight with a school resource officer and administrators Friday at Olathe Northwest High School.
Olathe Northwest Principal Chris Zuck sent a letter to parents Friday afternoon detailing the incident that happened at lunch that day.
One dead after police shooting in Independence Thursday night
Zuck said administrators learned from a student that another student might have a weapon in their backpack. A school resource officer went to remove the student from the cafeteria, per the district’s protocols.
The principal said there was an altercation between the student, the resource officer and school administrators. The student was eventually detained and separated from the backpack. The officer also requested additional police backup.
After investigating further, officials confirmed the student did have a gun in their bag.
Zuck stressed the student did not use the gun, and there was no threat to Olathe Northwest. The school said no nearby students or staff were involved or injured.
Family files lawsuit in deadly 2021 Kansas City police shooting
“Our top priority is always the safety of our students and staff,” Zuck said in his letter. “We’d like to thank the Olathe Police Department for their help with this situation and our student who reported a concern to our staff members.”
Parents like Heather Beveridge received the letter in an email from Zuck. Her student is a sophomore at the high school.
“I started shaking, I got tears in my eyes, I mean, I felt like I couldn’t breathe for a second,” Beveridge said. “It’s too close to home.”
Beveridge wanted to reward the student who alerted administrators of the 16-year-old who had a loaded gun.
“As bad as I wanted to hug my son, my second thought was I wanted to hug the person who told,” Beveridge said. “I’m so proud of that student. I hope that other students aren’t scared to speak up if they hear something, see something. I really do respect whoever the student is. I want to hug the parents too, I want to hug the student, I want to hug their parents.”
Beveridge set up a GoFundMe page for the student, SRO and staff involved in the incident.
“I feel like shocked, when I found out like holy crap, like that’s our school, like somebody did that at our school,” ONW Freshman Emersyn said. “My dad brought me lunch today and he said there were cops all around our school.”
She said it’s scary to know someone brought a gun to school.
“At no point was the gun used to threaten anyone with the school,” Moncayo said, “and no one was injured as the result of the confrontation between the student and law enforcement.”
“It’s like we tell a lot of people: See something, say something,” Moncayo said. “Because that’s how we can get involved as quickly as possible and prevent something from escalating more than what it should.”
The principal said there will be an increased police presence for the remainder of Friday while officers investigate.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Olathe Police Department at 913-971-6363 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477.
