ANDERSON COUNTY, Tenn. — Authorities said they took a student into custody in Anderson County after they brought a firearm into Clinch River Community School on Tuesday.
According to Anderson County Schools, someone reported that a student had a gun in their possession. School administrators and the school resource officer responded immediately, saying they had the weapon and student removed from the school and in officer custody less than 5 minutes later.
ACS said it later learned the weapon was a starting pistol, which are noisemakers loaded with blanks or caps to start competitive athletic events. These blank handguns can look like other pistols but typically are incapable of firing live ammunition unless heavily modified.
“While this incident is not something we ever want to have happen in our schools, we are extremely thankful for the way that our employees as well as the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office responded to this threat.”