Hugh Lewis/Jefferson Jimplecute
Jefferson High School had their first gun related incident of the year last Thursday when a loaded .22 caliber revolver was found in a student’s backpack.
School officials found the gun following a search to locate a vape which had triggered automatic sensors in one of the bathrooms. The search, which involved multiple students, was conducted in the offices. The vape was found in a “hidey hole” and not on any student, according to information supplied by the district.
“There are vape sensors in the bathrooms,” said JISD Superintendent Michael Walker. “When they detect vape, or other indicators, a text message is sent that says if a vape is present or even if there is THC detected. When the sensor goes off the closest administrator goes to the restroom, and whomever is in the restroom is subject to search. If no one fesses up, then everyone present in the bathroom is searched. This is how the handgun was found. The vape was not found on any student involved.”
The student, identified by Marion County Sheriff’s Office jail reports as Ikeam Carr, 17, of Jefferson, was arrested by JISD Police Chief D.J. Sherrill on January 19 and charged with unlawfully carrying a weapon in a prohibited location and the theft of a firearm. Bond has been set at $35,000. As of press time, Carr was still in the Marion County Jail.
Carr is a junior at Jefferson High School and, sccording to the Jefferson Police Department, he is known to local law enforcement as a juvenile offender.
According to reports, Carr was involved in a string of vehicle burglaries last year, has been sent to juvenile facilities multiple times, and was reported as “missing from school” on occasions.
JPD Chief Tino Perez said, despite these instances, “Carr is uniquely nice and polite” during interactions.
However, as Carr is 17, he no longer falls under the Texas juvenile system.
According to a statement released by Walker, “The student was immediately detained and subsequently arrested. After an extensive investigation it was discovered the student was living in various vacant houses and had all of his belongings in his bag and backpack. There was no evidence of intent to use the weapon against anyone. The weapon itself was in very poor condition. The hammer was broken and there were cartridges in the weapon that were corroded to the cylinder.”
Walker also said in the statement that “The safety of our students and staff will always be our top priority and we will continue to work diligently to provide the safest environment possible.”
The case is pending with the Marion County District Attorney’s office.
Walker said there were “none of the typical indicators of a student in need of assistance” when asked how Carr’s living conditions went unnoticed by JISD staff.
Ikeam’s cousin, Sharniyvia Carr disputed the notion that the young man is homeless.
“He is always welcome at home with his mom,” she said. “The issue is he doesn’t like his mom’s boyfriend and he chooses to live wherever he can find, when he has family that has offered to take him in.”
Online comments ranged from wanting to help Ikeam, once released, to people questioning the amount of time before the district notified parents of the situation.
“Bringing a gun to school is not ok and finding out from our students and not from the actual school isn’t acceptable either, also the only reason this was even posted is because a parent made a complaint,” Amanda Nash posted.
According to Walker, the method in which the handgun was found allowed JISD to handle the situation without ordering a campus lockdown or notifying parents until the investigation was complete. Walker also said while there have been other gun related incidents on campus, this was the first incident of a gun being in the building.
“There was no immediate or outstanding threat,” Walker said. “We wanted to be certain we had investigated every aspect of this before putting out a statement. There’s a lot of different avenues to look into and we wanted to make sure we had them all covered. But, of course, in any situation where there is an outstanding threat, obviously we’d get with parents immediately. But this wasn’t the case.”
Sharniyvia also told the Jimplecute that Ikeam had the gun because he was being bullied by another student and that she didn’t “believe he intended to hurt anyone.”
Walker said that while the district cannot discuss disciplinary issues on any student, TEA code 37 provides a course of action the district is required to follow. However, he also said the district does have some flexibility to offer different options based on the circumstances and that the district is examining those options and what resources can be provided to the student to “help the student be headed in the right direction.”