Lockdown lifted at Shawnee Mission South after student arrested for bringing gun to school
Shawnee Mission South High School was briefly placed on lockdown Monday afternoon after a student allegedly brought a weapon into the school building, according to police.
The Overland Park Police Department was dispatched to the school at 5800 W 107th St. after a male student allegedly showed the weapon to his friends, according to Officer John Lacy, a police spokesperson.
The other students immediately reported the weapon to an assistant principal, who deployed two school resource officers to make contact with the armed student and then called police, Lacy said.
While the SROs and OPPD officers were responding, Shawnee Mission South was placed on lockdown for a “brief” period of time, Lacy said. During the lockdown, the armed student was isolated in a classroom until officers were able to bring him into the hallway, along with his gun.
The student resisted arrest, Lacy said, but officers took him into custody without the use of force. As a result, the lockdown had been lifted by Shawnee Mission South’s final bell at 2:40.
“The lockdown was lifted when law enforcement gave us the clear,” Principal Todd Dain wrote in a letter to Shawnee Mission South parents and families addressing the lockdown. “The building is secure.”
No shots were fired during the incident, though initial correspondence from the scene mistakenly included reports of gunfire, Lacy said.
Police declined to share the exact length of the lockdown and whether the student’s gun was loaded; however, they did confirm that the student had brought a gun designed for real bullets and not an Airsoft or other pellet gun.
The student has not been publicly identified.
Dain was not immediately available to comment on the lockdown. However, in the letter to parents, he wrote that the incident would be handled according to state and federal laws and district policies.
“I am proud of our students and staff who navigated a challenging situation with poise and patience,” Dain wrote.
This story was originally published December 9, 2024 at 3:28 PM.
