Photo: Stockton Police Officer David Scott, a resource officer assigned to Lincoln High School, holds weapon he took from a 17-year-old male student. (COURTESY OF THE STOCKTON POLICE DEPARTMENT)
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A Lincoln High student pulled a loaded gun during a fight on Monday before being disarmed by a “heroic” Stockton Police officer.
The 17-year-old male student has been arrested and two students suffered minor injuries, the SPD confirmed.
Stockton Police Chief Stanley McFadden confirmed that the weapon was loaded and credited the “heroic” communication between the resource officer, identified as David Scott, and the Lincoln staff, “absolutely prevented a horrific day.”
“That was a loaded firearm, it was ready to go and Officer Scott was able to get that firearm out of the hands of what could have been danger,” McFadden said.
Just before 12:30 p.m., police say a struggle broke out between several students, and school staff intervened to break it up. A second altercation occurred and went to the ground, where the suspect pulled out a 9-millimeter pistol and Scott was able to disarm and subdue him.
“While struggling on the ground, the subject produced a handgun, and (in) Officer Scott’s alertness, he pressed the gun against the ground, kept it there they were able to take the person into custody without further incident,” McFadden said.
Police officials said the investigation is ongoing, and would not discuss any theories on how the fight started or how the suspect may have carried the gun to school. Lincoln High is a closed campus, but not have metal detectors. Lincoln Unified School District Superintendent Kelly Dextraze said the district will be conducting its own investigation.
“We’ll debrief, we’ll complete a full investigation, we’ll work with our partners and make adjustments if they are necessary,” Dextraze said. “We will put actions in place that will keep our students and staff safe.”
Kudos to the Lincoln High School Resource Officer and Stockton Police Officer Scott for handling a dangerous situation so well. But the Police Chief’s story doesn’t match the videos of the situation and he was negligent to misinform the public.
As you can clearly see on the videos of the event , Officer Scott and Lincoln high school personnel were wrestling the students to the ground when the fire arm was dislodged and traveled away from the officers and the students. No one “produced” a handgun as if to shoot. And, while Officer Scott eventually secured the weapon, he did not “press it to the ground” to disarm the student.
Shame on Police Chief McFadden for such inaccuracies with such a serious situation. It’s as if he wanted to sensationalize the event – making it appear as dangerous as possible – even if not portraying it accurately. That’s not fair to the heroic work done by those on campus nor to the larger Lincoln High School community to stoke such fear and exaggerations.
In addition, less than an hour after the High School sent out an email to the families about the situation, the Stockton Police Department Facebook site chose to post two pictures of the event: the officer with the gun and the gun itself as if to, again, sensationalize the event instead of providing reassurances to the community. A community of concerned parents and family members.
We can only hope the Stockton Police Chief will show better judgement moving forward and that the Stocktonian prints a more accurate picture of the events. This should include holding the Police Chief accountable for his approach to this situation – especially his inaccuracies and his motivations to do so.
That’s the kind of journalism this community needs – accurate reporting and not simply repeating sensationalism even if it comes from a Police Chief. We are hoping for more from the Stocktonian and it’s reporters and we certainly deserve better from the Stockton Police Chief.