Police chief: Golden Valley school wants a warrant before handing over video of student with gun
GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. – A Golden Valley middle school has confirmed that there was in fact a weapon on their campus.
The school didn't alert police until days later. And now, Golden Valley Police Chief Virgil Green says the school won't give them video of the student showing it off on social media without a warrant.
Police told WCCO they are frustrated that they were contacted days after the video circulated, and are only now getting involved in the investigation.
Sandburg Middle School is part of the Robbinsdale Area School District. The district tells us protocol was followed after learning of a potential gun on campus, saying little more than protocol is to investigate a situation.
WCCO spoke with school security expert Rick Kaufman.
"Weapons in schools is a dangerous, dangerous incident, and so it has to be handled very seriously, with, you know, speed to get it right," Kaufman said.
He says when it comes to a potential weapon on campus, best practice is to contact police and have the school district and police run parallel investigations. It's critical to keep everyone safe.
"Do an immediate investigation to determine the actions that occurred, what we know, who's involved, what's the purpose, do they have intent, means, motivation to bring harm upon themselves or others," Kaufman said. "And part of that investigation leads to informing law enforcement because there could be a criminal act to it."
WCCO asked the school district about the students involved, and it said the information is private. The superintendent did tell us discipline will be coming.
Chief Green told WCCO the student in that video was in school Thursday.
In a new letter, the school apologized to parents and said they didn't alert police immediately because they needed time to gather facts. They also said a threat was never made and a gun was never found.
Minnesota law makes it "generally a crime" to possess a dangerous weapon while knowingly on school property. Additionally, school boards must adopt a policy requiring a school official to report students possessing firearms to criminal or juvenile justice systems as soon as possible.
Green says once the Golden Valley Police Department completes an initial incident report, investigators will start interviewing the people involved.
