A printed three-dimensional object resembling a gun caused something of an uproar Wednesday afternoon when video of a young boy carrying the object outside of an elementary school in Orange County surfaced.
In the video, the boy is seen carrying the object by his side before removing his backpack and putting it inside.
A parent with a second grader at the school, Loma Ridge Elementary School in Irvine, grew even more concerned when a photo on social media, reportedly posted by same the boy, showed the object being held with a message reading, “Don’t mess with me y’all.”
Frightened parents seeing the video on social media Thursday morning reportedly started yanking their kids out of school with some saying school officials didn’t inform them of the incident quickly enough.
“There was no communication with the parents, there was no communication at all,” one parent who did not want to be identified told KTLA’s Mary Beth McDade. “So everyone just kind of found out through social media.”
As it turns out, the Irvine Police Department had been notified of the Wednesday afternoon incident and at around 3 p.m., officers responded.
Investigators contacted school officials and, eventually, the student’s parents, and learned that what appeared to be a firearm was, in fact, a 3D printed object in the shape of a revolver with no moving or working parts.
Describing the object as similar to a training gun, police said that since the boy didn’t point the toy at or threaten anyone with it, they determined no crime was committed and that any disciplinary measures would be handled by school officials and the boy’s parents.
Irvine School District Public Information Officer Annie Brown told KTLA that parents with students at the school were notified about the incident.
“The Irvine Police Department was contacted immediately,” one of the messages read in part. “As part of their investigation, they determined the student was holding a toy gun and that there is no threat to our school.”
In a follow-up message, school officials told concerned parents that the object was a “solid block of material that was not functional and could not be used as a firearm,” that there was never any danger to the school community and that the incident took place off campus grounds.
School officials further stated that they cannot comment on any disciplinary actions taken against the student due to confidentiality laws and out of respect for the child and his parents.
“The safety of our students, staff and school is our top priority,” officials said in the message. “If this had been a real gun, our response would have reflected that, and those details would have been provided.”
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