Minnesota 6th-grader who shot gun at school in custody after ex-Golden Gopher Kim Royston heroically disarms him
PLYMOUTH, MINNESOTA: At least 700 students at Plymouth Middle School in Minneapolis were forced into lockdown Monday, April 26, after a student fired multiple gunshots into a corridor ceiling. Assistant Principal Kim Royston was credited with disarming the student, and it has now emerged that it was a sixth-grader who brought a loaded gun to school.
According to Dr Stephanie Burrage, superintendent of Robbinsdale Area Schools, the incident took place at about 8.45 am in a hallway outside of a bathroom, and was witnessed by "a few kids" before several law enforcement agencies responded to the school. “Any time there is a gun in a school, it puts all of our kids in jeopardy,” Burrage told WCCO.
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Fortunately, no one was hurt from the shots fired and the student was taken into custody without incident. A source in the district told WCCO anonymously that Assistant Principal Royston was able to disarm the student. Formerly a University of Minnesota football (Minnesota Golden Gophers) player, Royston reportedly shouted at the child to put the gun down. The student complied and was subsequently subdued by Royston.
The school resource officer then helped secure the premises, Dr Burrage said. “We had someone here on site that was able to assist us immediately because they were here. They were able to call for support. We did the same,” she said.
"There were multiple shots that were fired."
— The Recount (@therecount) April 26, 2021
— Superintendent Dr. Stephanie Burrage of Robbinsdale Area Schools gives an update on a school shooting incident at Plymouth Middle School in Minnesota. There were no injuries reported; one person in custody. pic.twitter.com/9HygddzljN
“Yesterday was one of the most difficult days of my career as an educator," Royston later said in a statement. "Everything happened so quickly, that I didn’t have time to think about what I would do. I saw the gun, I instructed him to drop it and ran to the spot where the shots had been fired. I’m so thankful that no one was hurt.”
Samantha Billups remembered getting a phone call from her daughter shortly after the incident. “She said, ‘Ma.’ I said, ‘Yeah?’ She said, ‘It’s been a shooting at school,’ and I’m like, ‘What?’ She was like, ‘They are shooting at school,’” Billups told WCCO. Her daughter Brailyn was one of the students who witnessed the shots in front of her eyes.
“Everybody was coming out of class and then we were all having a nice conversation until we heard these like, boom, boom, boom, boom,” Brailyn recalled. “And at first everybody turned around because we thought it was people banging on lockers. We started running, it was too many people trying to get out the door, like the door was closing and everybody was getting stuck. And then people were dropping their belongings and stuff and then we like ran out the door into the field."
Brailyn and her friends were able to get outside the school. Another parent told the outlet how her daughter got to safety inside the building and used a friend's phone to text her. “She eventually texted me and said she was in the same vicinity of where the shooting was happening and then she started running and she got to the gym and she’s been locked down in the gym,” Quina Davis said
A former Cretin DH and #Gophers DB, Kim Royston, is a true hero. He works at Plymouth Middle School as ass't principal and he helped disarm the kid who had the gun this morning.
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) April 26, 2021
The student was unarmed and compliant when the authorities arrived at the scene, a Plymouth police spokesperson said. Hennepin County Sheriff Dave Hutchinson defended the use of school resource officers on-premises. “We have to make sure we’re protected in our schools,” Hutchinson said. “Regardless of what some people say, [school resources officers are] important.”
The incident is currently being probed by the school district and Plymouth law enforcement.