BEAUFORT — Carteret County public school officials confirmed Wednesday that two knives were recently found in a student’s book bag at Down East Middle School in Smyrna. No one was injured, and officials reported there was no threat to others.
Upon request from the News-Times, officials released a statement Wednesday regarding the incident, although they did not say the date the episode occurred.
According to the statement, students at the middle school reported that another student was saying they were in possession of a knife. Students immediately reported this to staff members, and administration was notified.
“Upon a thorough search, two knives were discovered in the student’s book bag. Law enforcement was involved, and a threat assessment was completed. According to students and staff members, there was never a threat made to anyone, nor were the knives shown to anyone by the student,” the statement reads.
Officials went on to say the incident was handled according to the CCPS Code of Conduct, law enforcement followed up, and measures were put in place to ensure the safety of students and staff members in the future. They did not say what those measures were.
“CCPS commends the students for following our See Something, Say Something protocols and for staff members, administration and law enforcement for acting quickly and thoroughly,” the statement continued. “As always, the safety of our students and staff members is our top priority at Carteret County Public Schools.”
County school, county and municipal leaders, with the help of grants, agreed at the beginning of the 2022-23 school year to fund a school resource officer at every county public elementary school. This is in addition to SROs at middle schools and high schools.
The school system is also in the process of constructing security walls at several schools.
Contact Cheryl Burke at 252-726-7081, ext. 255; email Cheryl@thenewstimes.com; or follow on Twitter @cherylccnt.
(2) comments
lol that is not true the officers are the worst they took 10 minutes to put me in handcuffs lol
also they didnt up the security they still dont check the binders cuz kids sneaking things in there too
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