Cudahy parents frustrated by school district after handgun located in backpack; 12-year-old in custody

CUDAHY, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A 12-year-old child is in custody after Cudahy police said the sixth grader brought a handgun to Lincoln Elementary on Wednesday, April 30. 

According to Chief Anthony Andrews, another student alerted school staff to the possibility of a weapon inside of a backpack that was left unattended by its owner.

That's when staff searched the bag, located the gun, and called for assistance, police said.

That student is now in custody at the Vel R. Phillips Juvenile Justice Center, and criminal charges are being referred.

In a press release, Cudahy police commended the student who spoke up, and the quick actions of the staff involved.

But while thankfully no one was hurt, families were left shaken and upset over the incident and what they said is a lack of transparency by the school.

“I’m still kind of rattled by it all. I never thought it’d actually be in my backyard," said one parent of a first-grade girl, who asked to not be identified. “How do you explain to a 6-year-old that hey, this happened today?”

The parent told CBS 58's Ellie Nakamoto-White that they had spoken to the principal the day of the incident but were disappointed to see an email come out to families' hours after.

“I feel like we were just left out of the loop," they said. “Now even today I saw like three ambulance lights on and the first thing I think of now is, are they going to my kid’s school?”

For Olen and Kaitlin Burage, parents of two students at the school, it was a debate whether or not to send their children in today. 

“My 10-year-old did express that she does have a fear of coming back to school, you know?" said Kaitlin Burage. “The email didn’t hit until 3 o’clock when I was picking up my kids.”

Her husband, Olen, agreed, noting that he wants to see increased security measures so this doesn't happen again.

“Clearly there has to be some kind of intervention as far as finding guns or other weapons in a kid's backpack prior to them getting even two steps in the door," Olen Burage said. 

Another Lincoln Elementary parent forwarded CBS 58 the three emails that were sent out to the community -- the first at 2:16 p.m. from Principal Matt Orlowski, a second at 3:20 p.m. from Superintendent Michelle Garvin and administrative staff at the district, and a third at 6:52 p.m. from Garvin.

However, it is still unclear when the incident happened or whether or not the school was put on lockdown.

“It’s especially shocking that a 12-year-old easily just walked into school undetected, with a gun, until a student seen it," Kaitlin Burage said. "Something has to be done, so better security measures have to happen so incidents like this don’t happen again.”

The district said they have "deployed additional personnel to Lincoln Elementary along with extra police presence for added security" and that student support service usage is available for anyone in need.

Cudahy police said there is no further threat to the school or to the public but are asking anyone with information to call them at 414-769-2260.