BB gun leads to brief lockdown at Shaw Middle School

Students and staff at John A. Shaw Middle School in Spokane’s Bemiss neighborhood were placed under lockdown Wednesday morning after a student brought a BB gun to school.

The lockdown lasted less than a half-hour, according to one of three messages sent to staff members and families by Shaw Principal Keoni Dang Wednesday. The lockdown was initiated after staff caught wind of allegations a student brought a weapon to school.

Spokane Police public information officer Dan Strassenberg said the initial call to the agency came a few minutes after 9 a.m. Officers responded within eight minutes, and the student carrying the suspected firearm had been escorted to the school’s front office and was waiting with staff upon their arrival.

Spokane Public Schools spokesman Ryan Lancaster confirmed the perceived weapon was a BB gun and no threat was made. Weapons of any kind, including toys and replicas, are prohibited on school grounds.

“Bringing these items to school not only jeopardizes safety but leads to serious consequences,” Dang wrote in his correspondence with the school community Wednesday morning.

Shaw Middle School officials transitioned the lockdown response into a “secure and teach” around 9:25 a.m., which means exterior doors remained locked while normal activities resumed inside the buildings. The school returned to normal operations 20 minutes later.

The incident occurred almost a year to the date after a 12-year-old Shaw Middle School student brought a loaded, semiautomatic 45-caliber Springfield handgun to school and threatened to “pop” another student, as previously reported by The Spokesman-Review.

The October 2024 incident forced a brief lockdown and led to the arrest of the student on suspicion of unlawful possession of a firearm and having a dangerous weapon on school grounds.

Strassenberg did not return a message on whether the student involved Wednesday was detained or will be facing charges.