Students at Raymer Elementary will be back in class Monday for their first day since a false report of a gun inside the school. The incident made for some tense moments for parents and staff Friday.
Police are applauding the parent who reported seeing a student with a BB gun near the school.
A parent, who did not want to be identified, says he was dropping his son off at school when he claims he saw a boy with what was believed to be a gun.
"I picked up the cell phone, and I immediately tried to call the school," he says. "I figured they would be the closest ones, they would be able to come out. He was not acting like he was menacing, like he was going to shoot anything up. He was a little kid bragging that he had something. I could tell that because he just flashed it real quick, wrapped it back up, and then he left."
Police found the BB gun and say it was broken. They say it was never in the building.
Officers applaud the citizens who reported seeing the student with it.
"Unless we are right there for something like that, we are not going to see it," says Lieutenant Mark King. "A lot of the school shootings happened in a very short period of time, less than a minute. So we rely heavily on people to give us information like that, and they acted very appropriately. Even though it turned out to be a BB gun, you can't tell a BB gun from a real working firearm anymore."
Toledo police rely heavily on the public to help be their eyes and ears. Officers hope other citizens will step up and do what this parent did and report anything they believe is suspicious.
School leaders say two students face disciplinary charges with TPS and Toledo Police stemming from the incident.
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