COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — After a full investigation, charges were dismissed against a Cookeville student who said he had a gun in his backpack when in fact he did not.
District Attorney Bryant Dunaway wrote in a release the charges had to be dismissed because what the student said didn't criminally fit the definition of a thread of mass violence. This stemmed from an incident at Cookeville High School in late August, where a freshman student was arrested for claiming he had a gun. That caused a lockdown at the school.
The DAs office explained the incident arose from a lesson on internal and external conflict. When the teacher asked how to resolve a conflict, the student said he had a gun in his backpack.
"While this statement is clearly inappropriate, the classroom teacher and the other students in the class perceived the statement as if the student was joking," Dunaway wrote in his release. "The classroom teacher took the student outside the classroom and questioned the student where he admitted to the teacher that he was joking."
A teacher made a report about the incident. Authorities later confirmed there was no gun in his backpack.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email newsroom@newschannel5.com.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
