The following is a joint statement from the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety and the Kalamazoo Public Schools.
The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety and Kalamazoo Public Schools work closely together on a daily basis. In fact there is a KDPS school liaison officer assigned to Loy Norrix High School on a full time basis. The investigation of yesterday’s incident began jointly with KDPS and KPS.
Police investigations of the type of incident at Loy Norrix yesterday can be complex, particularly when individuals are uncooperative or not truthful. Here is a list of some of the things that transpired yesterday between the first call of an incident at Loy Norrix and the lock down of the school:determination of what the incident was and where it occurred.
KDPS ballistics testing to determine if a weapon was discharged.
A viewing of security tapes to determine who was in the area of incident at the time it occurred.
Interviewing, and re-interviewing individuals.
Searching suspects.
Expanding interviews and searches as we learned the weapon may have been handed off in an attempt to hide the weapon.
Locking down Loy Norrix when a likely and credible suspect was identified.
Searching additional students and ultimately confiscating the weapon without incident or injury.
Notification to students, parents and media.
These proven and successful investigations and interviews take time to accurately determine what happened and who was involved. The safety of students and staff is the top priority.
We again thank the students and staff at Loy Norrix for their calm and orderly response to the situation.