Local middle school student facing charges, accused of bringing gun to school twice

EATON — Some parents want to know why a local school district didn’t let them know a student allegedly brought a gun to school.

News Center 7 learned that parents at Eaton Middle School were not notified after a gun allegedly ended up at school last week.

According to court documents, it all started on Thursday, Sept. 7 when a woman in Eaton found a gun under her son’s mattress.

She told police her 13-year-old son may have stolen it from her father who was missing a gun from his home.

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That same day the 13-year-old admitted to police he took the gun, saying he thought it would be cool.

“Schools need to make it uncool for guns because right now, society makes it cool for guns,” Chuck Zimmerman of Camden said.

Eaton police said several days later the teen admitted he actually brought the gun to school on Sept. 5 and Sept. 6.

Police said he showed two other students in his backpack

“There was no threat ... but bringing a gun to school is a huge threat in itself,” Eaton Police Chief Steven Hurd said.

The district provided a statement on the incident.

“There was a gun at school. We learned about it after the gun was no longer at school. We took it seriously and addressed it immediately upon learning about it.” it stated.

Superintendent Jeff Parker said he didn’t want to talk on camera, but said the district didn’t tell parents because it found out the week after it happened and did not want to scare students.

But a parent whose daughter attends the school feels otherwise.

“Every parent should have been notified, especially if it wasn’t on television or on the news,” he said.

The student, who was on probation already, is now facing charges of receiving stolen property, illegal conveyance, tampering with evidence, and other misdemeanors

He is in the custody of a juvenile detention center.

“I think that the grandparents or the parents should be in trouble. I mean, I know he’s 13. But he still should not be able to find that gun,” Anna Taylor of Gratis said.

The 13-year-old boy is expected to be in court next week.

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