Uvalde middle school student faces disciplinary action after handgun found

A junior high school student from the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District “will not return to school” after they were found to be in possession of a handgun. It is not immediately clear what day the gun was discovered, but the situation was addressed in a letter parents from Morales Jr. High School Principal Patricia Merlos on Thursday, February 1. 

According to the letter, the junior high school campus officer received a report from another student about the weapon. The student was identified and the weapon was confiscated. 

Merlos wrote that the student showed the handgun to other students but noted that it was not used to make threats. 

“As with all matters of student safety, we have taken this very seriously,” Merlos wrote in the letter to parents. “This act is a violation of law and the Student Code of Conduct. The students face disciplinary action and will not return to school.”

The principal asked parents to discuss the incident with their children and “emphasize that it is against the law to bring weapons of any type to school.” Additionally, she asked parents to encourage their children to speak to a staff member or their parents if they become aware of a weapon at school. 

“This way, we are all working together to keep our school safe. Only by working as a school community in partnership with parents can we create and maintain the level of safety that we want for our children and that they deserve.”

MySA has reached out to Uvalde CISD with a request for comment. 

On January 18, the Department of Justice released its critical incident report on the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde on May 24, 2022. The mass shooting left 19 children and two teachers dead.