KY student stole school officer’s personal weapon. Now the sheriff is getting involved

A Kentucky sheriff is consulting with a security specialist to develop a policy on securing personal weapons after a high school student stole a school resource officer’s personal gun from his vehicle and kept it while being held at the sheriff’s office.

On March 28, a Leslie County high school student had a confrontation with a teacher and was being transported to the sheriff’s office so his guardian could pick him up, Leslie County Sheriff Bill Collett said.

The school resource officer who was transporting him stopped to help another school resource officer who was being assaulted by some juveniles in an unrelated incident.

While the school resource officer was providing assistance to his colleague, the high school student, who was in the back seat, stole the weapon from a first aid bag that was in the cargo area of the SUV, Collett said. The student kept the gun concealed for nearly two hours while he was at the sheriff’s office waiting for his foster parent to pick him up.

The student still had the gun when his guardian later took him to a children’s center facility where he handed the gun to staff members, Collett said.

The pistol was not fired and no one was injured, Collett said. The sheriff’s office does not have a policy on how officers should secure personal weapons, but is developing one.

Leslie County Superintendent Brett Wilson said school and district administrators were made aware that the student had allegedly stolen a weapon from a Leslie County Sheriff Office school resource officer’s vehicle, while the student was being transported to the Sheriff’s office.

“This incident did not occur on any of our school properties. At no time were any of our students threatened or endangered. The safety of our students and staff is our top priority,” Wilson said.