ALBERTVILLE, Ala. — An Albertville High School student was taken into custody Monday afternoon after a school resource officer found a loaded gun in their backpack.
In a notice sent to families Monday, school leaders say the incident happened around 2:55 p.m. when the officer was notified that a student possibly had a weapon in their possession.
On Tuesday, Albertville Police held a news conference with updated information on the incident. Officials say Djovani Jean Pierre was on campus a little after 9:00am Monday morning without the weapon in question. When the school was notified that he was a person of interest in a robbery case earlier that morning, they began to look for him, but wouldn't find him until later Monday afternoon at football practice.
Pierre faces four charges, including one for the robbery in which the gun was allegedly stolen. With this charge, he will be tried as an adult. Marshall County District Attorney Jennifer Bray said, "I'm here today to announce that the district attorney's office has issued a warrant and that a judge has, in fact, signed warrants for the arrest of Djovani Jean Pierre, age 16." Pierre is being held with no bond. Bray continued, "The first count is robbery in the first degree, alleging that Mr. Jean Pierre used or was in possession of a deadly instrument or a dangerous weapon in the theft of a firearm that he possessed at the school yesterday afternoon."
Albertville City Schools Superintendent Dr. Bart Reeves said Pierre returned for football practice and the football coach received information that Pierre may have a gun in his backpack. School administration and SRO Lazaro were immediately notified and the student was taken into custody.
The 3 other charges are Assault, Forbidden Possession of Firearm, and Resisting Arrest.
Previous reporting:
The officer located the student, who reportedly tried to flee when asked to provide their backpack to be searched.
A taser was deployed and the student was then taken into custody.
"According to APD, there is no ongoing threat to our students or staff," the school said in their statement. "As a precaution, there will be additional law enforcement on campus at AHS tomorrow [Tuesday]."
The incident continues a trend over the past two weeks in which students have been arrested and charged with making terroristic threats, including verbal and virtual claims to commit acts of violence at schools across North Alabama.
Officials continue to stress that any threat or suspicious activity should be reported to school administrators and law enforcement. A "see something, say something" policy has been instrumental in law enforcement response to the recent wave of threats.