Deer Park ISD told ABC13 they got an anonymous tip through their alert system stating the student had a gun and that the tipster even gave the student's name.
"I was in lunch, I saw a message from my school saying an incident happened, and that is when I had a talk with my friends about the incident, and that is when they all told me," Jaden Grau, a student at Deer Park High School, said.
Eyewitness News reporter Alex Bozarjian asked Grau's mom, Elvira St. Brice, whether she felt her son was safe at school.
"Oh, hell no," St. Brice said. Her answer likely resonates with parents everywhere.
Her fears and anxiety amplified on Wednesday after finding out about Wednesday's incident.
The district sent the following message to the community:
"Dear Parent/Guardian, I am writing on behalf of the administrators at Deer Park High School-South Campus to inform you of an incident that took place at the school this morning. We received an Anonymous Alerts message informing us that a student had a weapon at school today. The message included the name of the student who reportedly brought the weapon to school, so the assistant principals and the School Resource Officer were able to quickly locate the student and arrest him. No one was harmed, and the student did not threaten anyone else. The incident is under investigation, so we do not have any more details at this time. We will share more information as it becomes available. I want to close by recognizing the individuals who reported the incident through our Anonymous Alerts system. Even though we are not aware of any threats to our school by the student who brought the weapon, those who reported the incident helped keep our school safe by reporting suspicious behavior."
St. Brice is thankful the situation didn't escalate but feels helpless to protect her son.
Deer Park ISD said that over the past week, they've received 18 tips through their alert system. These involve a wide variety of concerns, including reports of bullying, weapons, threats, beef between students, and suspicious behavior.
Mike Matranga, the vice chairman of the National Council for School Safety Directors, says all of these can be precursors to violence.
"Grievances are the number one cause of violence in the United States. "Whether that be at school or in the workplace or our communities, people don't just decide to wake up and take a gun to school for no apparent reason," Matranga said.
The "why" is complicated, but the sheer volume of these incidents in Texas is alarming.
According to the K-12 shooting database, from 2004 to 2013, there were 30 incidents with guns on K-12 campuses in Texas.
In the next decade, from 2014 to 2023, those incidents more than tripled to a total of 96.
Nationwide, there were nearly 1,500 firearm incidents at K-12 schools in the decade ending in 2023 - a 324% increase from the prior decade's 346 incidents.
Deer Park ISD said they thoroughly investigate the tip, no matter how small or seemingly foolish it is.
St. Brice said that in today's world, she's encouraging her son to pay attention.
"That's why I am teaching my son to get off his phone and to always look at his surroundings, so hopefully he learned," St. Brice said.
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