TUNICA COUNTY, Miss. — A Tunica teenager accused of bringing a gun into Rosa Fort High School is now being charged.
The boy cannot be identified, due to his age, but he was charged as a juvenile with possession of a firearm on school property.
Investigators said Wednesday’s incident has pushed them to explore more ways to keep students safe at school.
Rosa Fort High School was open Thursday for classes, but the Tunica County Sheriff’s Office was not taking any chances.
They had extra law enforcement on campus on Thursday just to make sure students were safe.
“We’re meeting and discussing things that we can incorporate in the school systems,” Commander Cedric Davis said.
Davis said officers were in meetings all morning to discuss school safety after the 16-year-old brought a gun into Rosa Fort High.
He was not sure whether the gun was part of some gang initiation, but he said he hasn’t ruled it out yet.
“It could possible have been some type of gang related issue. So, we want to make sure the school is safe by looking into that,” he said.
Davis said there is not a huge problem with high school students being recruited for gangs in Tunica County, but it does happen.
“We’re seeing the grown ups enticing the younger kids to get involved in gang activity and commit crime. This is how the adults manipulate the younger kids to do drug selling, things like that,” he told WREG.
He said there were things you can look out for to tell if your child might be in contact with gang members.
“If their demeanor starts changing, their clothing, staying on social media…” he said.
Davis added some gangs will use sites like Facebook to recruit kids.
Tunica mother Nellie Harris said parents have to be involved in their teenager’s lives and above all, be observant.
“We have to know what our children are doing and what they’re carrying every day from home to school,” she insisted.
The Sheriff’s Office has not decided on any specific plans to increase safety in the schools yet, but they are exploring options.
Officials also advised parents to keep any firearms you have in your home secured so children cannot access them.