Student removed from Royal High School after weapon found in backpack

ROYAL CITY — The discovery of a weapon in the backpack of a Royal High School student Friday resulted in the removal of the student from school, but it did not trigger a lockdown. Royal Superintendent Roger Trail said RHS staff discovered the weapon after the student no longer had access to the backpack.  

Administrators received a report Friday afternoon that the student might have something he shouldn't have, Trail said. The report came from another student.  

"The initial report did not indicate that the student had a weapon," Trail wrote in answer to questions from the Columbia Basin Herald. 

Administrators found the student and took him to the RHS office, which is when they learned the object might be a weapon, Trail said. 

"Our school resource officer responded, and the student was removed from campus without incident," Trial said. "Students were not restricted to their classrooms and a lockdown was not initiated because there was no information indicating a weapon was present until the student was already isolated and there was no indication of an additional or ongoing threat." 

The response to a potential threat is determined in part by the information available at the time, Trail said. In this case, the student no longer had access to the backpack when RHS administrators discovered he had a weapon in it, Trail said.  

The kind of weapon was not specified as the incident remains under investigation.  

Parents and the community were notified Friday afternoon in a statement released by the district.  

"We are very grateful that a student came forward and reported this concern," Trail said in the Friday statement. "The student's willingness to speak up allowed our staff and law enforcement to respond quickly and appropriately."