Prairie High was on ‘hold’ Wednesday after student brought pellet gun to school

CEDAR RAPIDS — Prairie High School was briefly placed under “hold” — a type of lockdown where students and staff are kept in their classrooms — while school officials investigated the report of a weapon at the school on Wednesday.

They found a student had brought a pellet gun to the school, 401 76th Ave. SW.

A Prairie High teacher alerted administrators at 11:53 a.m. that a student had reported another student had brought a weapon into the school, according to a letter sent to families Wednesday and shared with The Gazette.

Administrators immediately brought students to the office to investigate and later involved the district’s school resource officers — police in schools.

At 12:22 p.m., the high school was placed on hold as a part of the districtwide crisis response plan. The building was released from the hold about an hour later at 1:28 p.m.

Cedar Rapids police referred The Gazette to the school district. The student was not named.

“We take the safety of our students and staff seriously and work to fully investigate all potential threats to safety,” Prairie High Principal Spence Evans said in a message to families Wednesday.

Evans said the hold was called for two reasons:

The discovery of the pellet gun is a weapons violation subject to disciplinary action, up to and including expulsion, Evans said.

“I want to stress the importance of if you see or hear something, you say something,” Evans said in his message to families. “Our students being vigilant today was key in getting this situation resolved quickly and safely.”

“I want to take this opportunity to thank all staff and (the Cedar Rapids Police Department) for working together to keep all students safe,” Evans said. “I want to thank the students who made this report. I also want to thank all the students for handling the hold with patience and poise.”

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