Golden Valley middle school investigates social media video showing "what appears to be a gun" in bathroom
GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. -- A middle school in Golden Valley says it is investigating a social media video that shows "what appears to be a gun" inside a school bathroom.
Sandburg Middle School Principal Jay Hancock sent a letter to families, saying the school became aware of the video late last Friday evening.
"A video is circulating on social media that shows a student holding what appears to be a gun in a bathroom within our school. We began investigating this incident as soon as we learned about it," Hancock said. "It's important to note that there were no threats made to students or staff."
Hancock says the student in the video has been identified, but the school will not share any more details due to student data privacy.
"We take all situations involving weapons seriously and investigate thoroughly. We also follow the discipline guidelines outlined in the Student Rights and Responsibilities handbook," he said.
Hancock says it's important for parents to remind their child to share concerns with a trusted adult.
Golden Valley Police Chief Virgil Green says his department was not notified by the school about the incident.
"My only awareness of it has been from the news media," Green said.
He says it's concerning because he says law enforcement should be notified immediately if a student has a weapon in school.
"We're days behind knowing anything about it, so we just want the public to know if we would've known beforehand, we would've taken the appropriate steps to address this issue," he said.
In a statement, Robbinsdale Area Schools told us, "The police were not notified since this happened on a Friday night and was resolved immediately on Monday."
But Superintendent David Engstrom said after a board meeting Wednesday night the district is still investigating.
He said disciplinary action will be coming against the students involved. Engstrom also said they didn't contact police because they only became aware of the video after the fact.
Green says even if it wasn't an immediate threat, the school still should've called.
"Even if it's late in the afternoon, it's still something that should've been expedited to contact the police department about," he said.
Green says he's reached out to the director of security at the school district to ask about their investigation.
