A College View Middle School student has been charged with a class D felony for having an airsoft pistol on campus last week, and two others face a misdemeanor charge concerning the incident, according to authorities. The investigation began after a photo was posted on social media. School officials say there is no credible threat to anyone on campus at this time.
According to a Daviess County Sheriff’s Office report obtained Monday morning by Owensboro Times, deptuies were alerted to the incident Saturday morning. The report details that one College View student told their mother that they saw a TikTok post showing a classmate pulling what appeared to be a firearm out of a backpack in a classroom. The student who reported the incident took a screenshot of the post.
OT has seen the screenshot and can confirm the image aligns with the report given to DCSO. A backpack is sitting on a desk, and the student is shown holding the airsoft pistol with the grip end exposed. The student’s hand is not on the trigger in the screenshot, and the barrel of the airsoft pistol cannot be seen but is pointed directly down into the backpack based on the position of the grip.
According to the DCSO report, the DCPS Police Department was made aware of the incident and reached out to the Sheriff’s Office. Deputies were able to identify the student in the photo and went to their home, documents show.
The student told deputies the weapon was a BB gun that had been given to them at school by another student about 1.5-2 weeks earlier, according to the report. The student told the deputy they forgot it was in their backpack until another friend and classmate saw it and wanted to take a picture. The student said the friend who took the picture is the one who posted the photo to social media, documents show.
DCSO recovered the airsoft pistol from the student’s home, according to the report. The airsoft pistol was transferred into the possession of the DCPS Police, who took over the investigation, documents show.
Daviess County Attorney John Burlew said in a statement Monday afternoon that the student who was in the photo was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon on school property, which is a class D felony. Burlew said that “under these particular circumstances,” the student is being released to their mother rather than being detained, but the case will go to court.
Burlew added that two other students are being charged with a misdemeanor — one with complicity and one with disorderly conduct — relating to the incident.
“We take cases involving weapons — which can include airsoft pistols and pellet guns — on school property very seriously,” Burlew said. “Many times these items are indistinguishable from actual firearms, and that can create chaos in school.”
Daviess County Public Schools Public Information Officer Maddie Edwards said in a statement Sunday night that law enforcement had investigated the situation and determined there was no credible threat to anyone on campus.
“Over the weekend, a student made a social media post showing what appeared to be a weapon in their possession in a backpack while at school,” Edwards said. “The student responsible will have consequences for having an item on school grounds that could provoke fear, distraction, concern, and harm. School and district policies were followed. Based on law enforcement and school investigations, there is no credible threat to anyone on College View’s campus at this time.”
OT asked Edwards on Monday if there was a policy for disclosing an incident like this to parents.
“There is not a formal policy when deciding to disclose this kind of information to parents,” she said. “This is just something our principals choose to do to be transparent with their school community. With the parent message, CVMS had attendance of 95% [on Monday].”
