By Jerrod Knight, Scott Harvey
Commerce – Normal operations have resumed at Commerce Middle School, where officials were put on high alert at around 9 a.m. Friday when a student was heard claiming to have a firearm in his backpack.
The student was quarantined to an empty classroom and the campus was put on lockdown. A search of the student and their personal belongings, as well as the entire campus, found no weapons.
"That's something we take very seriously. The safety of our students is of the upmost responsibility," said Commerce ISD Superintendent Blake Cooper. "I feel very comfortable with how it was handled by the administrators, Joe Venable of the Commerce ISD Police Department and the City of Commerce Police Department. Everyone just worked together to get it done in just a real concise and calm way."
The student has been taken into custody and activity at Commerce Middle School resumed normal activity before 10 a.m.
Cooper credits the time spent by faculty, staff and students on certain training exercises that allowed everyone to respond to the situation in a safe, quick and accurate manner.
"It wasn't anything that alarmed kids or anything like that. They knew something was up but it was done in a way that kept the calm amongst the campus."