School Administration Addresses Bullet Found on Campus
September 28, 2018
As the football team played on Friday, September 7th, the crowds in the stands were distracted, checking their phones and looking around uneasily. An email from Principal Smith had been sent to everyone in the school, and that email was making people nervous.
A bullet was found on the CRLS campus on Friday, September 7th. In Mr. Smith’s email, he stated that “the CRLS Safety and Security Office was notified of this discovery, and the matter was reported immediately to the Cambridge Police Department, as well as the Superintendent’s Office.”
The Cambridge Police Department conducted a search immediately after the bullet was reported. According to a follow-up email from Mr. Smith that was sent out to the entire CRLS community, “Cambridge Police Department’s Explosive Ordnance Unit conducted a search in and around the building for any other possible ammunition.” According to Mr. Smith, nothing else was found.
After the initial two emails from Mr. Smith, he sent out a third one addressing inquiries that he had received. In this email, he informed the CRLS community that “the bullet was a small caliber single round of ammunition that had not been previously fired.”
According to the Cambridge Police Department’s report, the police were contacted by a member of the School Safety Department after a custodian found the .22 caliber round in an area not accessible by students.
“It’s concerning,” senior Quintin McLeod said. “I’m not scared, but it’s concerning.” McLeod said that he was appreciative of the emails sent out to everyone in the community. “I like being informed,” he said, comparing CRLS to the incident in Medford Public Schools, where a recovered gun magazine went unreported to police for a month. “They didn’t get informed about it until a month after. At least we were informed.”
Freshman Aléx Monteiro also expressed appreciation about being informed. “I think it’s important that Mr. Smith keeps everyone updated on these kind of things,” Monteiro said. “It shows a trust between the principal and the students in the school.”
This piece also appears in our September 2018 print edition.
