Puyallup parents plead for solutions after 4 separate gun incidents at schools

Parents and school officials in the Puyallup School District are desperate to find solutions and stop another gun-related incident from happening.

Within a month, the district dealt with four separate incidents where a student brought a gun to school.

“Honestly, I don’t think we should be having these conversations in the first place, the fact that we are, it’s scary,” said Puyallup High School student Franco Chavez Reyes.

Reyes is a 10th-grader at Puyallup High, where earlier this month a student brought a gun to school. The other incidents happened at Ballou and Glacier View Junior High. The most recent incident occurred just last week at Emerald Ridge High School.

“We should see school as a safe place, we shouldn’t be afraid,” said Reyes.

“It’s unfortunate that there’s been four incidents, but all of them, there hasn’t been any violence involved, and the schools have found a way to shut it down before there was a problem,” said parent Joshua Chase.

On Tuesday night, the district held a gun safety and community forum.

“We absolutely understand the importance of creating a nurturing, secure, and safe learning environment where everyone feels as safe as possible,” said Dr. John Polm, Superintendent at Puyallup School District.

Pierce County Deputy Carly Cappetto, who is also a School Resource Officer, was part of the conversation.

“This is a community problem that we all have to participate in solving and it really comes from the home. Now is the time to present in your students life, and ask the questions,” said Cappetto.

And, parents agree with her.

“I think that’s more of a family issue you need to stop your children from taking them out of the house,” said Chase.

Capeto says the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department is compiling a list of recommendations they feel would help prevent another incident.

“Things that are on the table for us would be gun safety classes and education material that we would consider implementing for our community,” said Cappetto.

She also encourages parents to store guns in a locked safe or cabinet, keeping ammunition separate, and talking with your kid about gun safety and the dangers.

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