Bozeman, Montana – Authorities say a student at Chief Joseph Middle School threatened pupils with a knife on Wednesday morning, leading to his arrest.
“The juvenile suspect in today’s incident is in custody and detained at a juvenile detention facility in another city. The juvenile is facing charges of Assault with Weapon, and Assault on a Peace or Judicial Officer. The number of counts for each of those offenses is still under investigation,” Dana McNeil, Detective Captain of the Bozeman Police Department.
Three resource officers used force to take the 7th grader’s folding knife away, according to Casey Bertram, superintendent of Bozeman Public Schools, in attempt to defuse the situation.
“At approximately 8 AM, a seventh-grade student at CJMS middle school arrived on the playground area behind the school. The student had a knife and was showing it to other students. The student allegedly threatened multiple students with the knife. No students were injured in the process,” Bertram explained.
A parent expressed her disappointment that she was not informed as soon as the school became aware of a potential issue.
According to Bozeman Public Schools, they informed parents as soon as they received the information necessary to do so.
“Our first duty is to secure the environment; make sure students and staff are safe. This morning, many things were occurring at the same time: we were securing the area, gathering the names of students who were impacted. We were setting up a counseling room and a reunification area because the main office was impacted, and we were working on factual messaging for our families, students, and staff.”
Nearly 500 of the 750 students at CJMS had been picked up by parents by 12:45 on Wednesday.
“We are aware that many students witnessed the event this morning and a variety of student cell phone videos are being circulated on social media. To ensure the Bozeman Police Department has all that information relevant to the case, please share any and all video evidence with the Bozeman Police Department,” Bertram requested.
School officials advised parents to contact Bozeman authorities if their children have any additional direct participation with the incident and have not yet been questioned by authorities.
”School violence across the country happens too often, and when it hits home; there’s something occurring within your child’s school district, that’s not a good feeling,” said Bertram.
Students may request continued counseling assistance from the school at any time.
