ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — A Rock Island elementary school student was surprised to find a handgun hidden inside a pillow while on a field trip to the Rock Island Police Department.
According to a City of Rock Island news release, a fifth-grade group was on a field trip at the Rock Island Police Department Friday afternoon when they were allowed to go inside a holding cell. One student pushed on a pillow and felt a gun hidden inside the pillow.
The student notified the department staff of their discovery. Police say the student didn't physically touch or see the gun, but only touched it through the pillow.
The gun, which was unloaded, was found to have been stolen during a burglary in Milan in 2022.
Rock Island-Milan School District officials were reportedly notified immediately, and students' parents were subsequently informed of the incident.
“Scholar safety is our top priority in the Rock Island - Milan School District,” Incoming Rock Island-Milan School District Superintendent Dr. Sharon Williams said. “We appreciate the efforts of the Rock Island Police Department to keep our scholars safe during this trip.”
Rock Island police are conducting an internal investigation into the incident.
In a Facebook post, Interim Police Chief Tim McCloud released the following statement:
"As you may have learned, during a tour of our police department on Friday for the Eugene Field Elementary School, a student located an unloaded handgun hidden inside a pillow in a holding cell. The entire incident raises a number of questions, the most important being, 'how could this have happened?'”
Let me first say that we make no excuses for this mistake and as we work to determine what actions or inactions contributed to this unfortunate situation, we know and expect that the citizens of Rock Island rightfully hold their police department to a standard that we did not meet. You entrust us to safeguard our community, especially our most vulnerable, and we fell short of that. As your police department, we have to do better and we will do better.
Once I learned of the situation, I immediately launched an internal investigation of the incident with our Office of Professional Standards. I spoke directly with the students, staff, and parents present to apologize for what they went through, thank them for their quick thinking, and promise them that we will work to ensure this never happens again. I contacted Eugene Field Elementary Principal Alongi to inform her of the situation, and then spoke with incoming Superintendent Dr. Sharon Williams who enacted a plan to notify parents.
We have initiated an intense review of our policies and procedures to determine what gaps may have led to this error. As a matter of clarification, our temporary holding cells are not jail cells and typically go several months without being used. When not in use, the cells are kept locked and no one, including cleaning staff, enter inside. Regardless, our citizens demand accountability and if it is determined that existing policies or procedures were not followed, those involved will receive appropriate repercussions. As we work to rebuild your trust, we will also be enacting additional and ongoing training with our personnel to ensure this type of incident is never repeated.
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