New Athens school delayed notifying police about gun, chief’s report says

A first-grader’s alleged decision to bring an unloaded gun to a New Athens school wasn’t reported to police until shortly after 5 p.m. — about seven hours after it was found, a police report says.

Emails from the school and the police report say the incident occurred April 20 in the elementary wing of the joint elementary and junior high building.

Since then, Elementary and Junior High Principal Stephanie Kennedy has been on leave, the mother of the student who allegedly brought the gun to school was charged with three criminal misdemeanors, and parents voiced concerns with the school board during a special meeting last week.

District 60 Superintendent Brian Karraker has not confirmed whether Kennedy’s absence is related to the incident or whether her leave was voluntary. He also has not confirmed whether she remained on leave this week.

Police report provides more details, timeline

The Belleville News-Democrat obtained the New Athens Police Department’s report of the incident. Written by Chief Tim Buehler, the report details his conversations with the teacher of the student who allegedly brought the gun to school, his mother, Kennedy, Karraker, and the elementary secretary.

Here’s what the report says:

• Buehler first learned of the incident from the first grade teacher, who called him shortly after 5 p.m. April 20.
• Kennedy sent an email to district parents and Buehler shortly after 4 p.m. that said a student had an unspecified weapon at school. Buehler missed a call from Kennedy at 4:27 p.m. and said he did not see the notifications until after he spoke with the teacher.
• The first grade teacher said around 10:30 a.m. that a student told her a classmate had a gun in his backpack.
• The teacher said she took the backpack, which contained the gun, to Kennedy’s office.
• Kennedy said she thought the gun was an old and damaged.
• The teacher and elementary secretary said Kennedy told them the gun was fake.
• The student did not make threats and brought the gun as a toy to play with at recess, Kennedy said.
• When Breanna Robison, the mother of the child who allegedly brought the gun to school, came to pick up her child. She said she wasn’t aware of the incident earlier in the day but said she missed a call from the school, the teacher said.
• Kennedy told Robison to retrieve the gun from the elementary secretary, the secretary said.
• At that point, the elementary secretary said she picked up the gun and knew it was real. She said she told Kennedy this, and Kennedy called Karraker.
• “I informed Principal Kennedy the Police Department should have been notified immediately as a gun was involved, ‘real or fake,” Buehler wrote in his report.
• Kennedy said she made a huge error.

According to state statute, a principal or a designee should immediately notify their local law enforcement agency if an individual has a firearm on school grounds. If that individual is a student, their parent should also be notified immediately.

Further, the superintendent or a designee should also immediately notify local law enforcement of any verified incident regarding a firearm on school owned or leased property, the statute says.

Neither Karraker or Kennedy responded to the BND’s requests for comment on the contents of the police report. The teacher also did not respond.

Child was looking for cookies but found a gun, report says

Breanna Robison, the mother of the child who allegedly brought the gun to school, was charged April 23 with placing a child in circumstances that could endanger the child’s life or health, a Class A misdemeanor; allowing a minor to access a firearm by unsafely storing or leaving the weapon, a Class C misdemeanor; and possessing a firearm with an expired Firearm Owner’s Identification card, a Class A misdemeanor.

Robison is out on bond, provided she appears in court at 9 a.m. Friday, June 5, court records show.

Buehler met with Robison the day after the incident occurred. He detailed the interview in his report:

• Robison said the gun is registered to her father, but her brother possessed the gun when he lived with Robison and her child.
• The gun was an inoperable antique, she told police and the BND in a private message, though she declined to speak with the BND further.
• Robison said her brother placed the gun on top of the kitchen cabinets so children couldn’t access it. She thought her brother took the gun with him when he moved out.
• Robison’s child said they stood on top of the counter to look for cookies, as their parents put sweets where the child can’t reach. That’s when the child found the gun.
• Buehler told the child they should have told their parents what they found and that it’s not good to bring guns to school.
• Robison brought the gun back to her father the previous day. Buehler retrieved the weapon, a Rohm RG10 revolver.
• Buehler reported the incident to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

Buehler told the BND that the gun was seized in evidence, and that its owner can petition to have it back. He said he does not know if the gun is inoperable.

Parents question school district’s response

At first, New Athens’ Danielle Voelkel didn’t think much of the “vague” email she received the afternoon of April 20.

As a former teacher herself, she knew a “weapon” could be anything, and reasoned if any of her three children witnessed something the school would contact her directly. Still, she said, something told her to bring it up at the dinner table that night.

“I got a strange email, did anyone get in trouble at school today?” she asked her children.

Her 7-year-old replied, “So-and-so had a gun and I told (the teacher).”

Voelkel said her stomach turned.

Voelkel was one of a handful of parents who shared her concerns for how the incident was handled at a special school board meeting late last month – particularly what they felt was a lack of communication from the district.

“I’m never going to get over the fact that I learned all of this from my 7-year-old,” she told the BND.

Aside from better communication, Voelkel and other concerned parents asked the board for better safety policies. Some pushed for gun safety education.

“‘It was unloaded’ is not a safety plan, you guys — that is luck,” Voelkel told the board.

One idea was to implement the National Rifle Association’s Eddie Eagle GunSafe program, which teaches children to not touch a gun if they find one and to promptly tell an adult.

After the board meeting, Karraker told the BND the district was exploring ways to address gun safety in school. The school held an assembly with Buehler and Eddie Eagle GunSafe material Monday for its kindergarten through fourth grade students.

Voelkel said she is optimistic that the assembly is the start of more change.