Wednesday, Dec. 5 a handgun was confiscated from a student’s locker. Faculty members were made aware of the gun by multiple students and the gun was taken from the locker within a minute and a half.

   “I am proud of our students and faculty as well as how the situation was handled,” Principal Dan Meier said.

   Three students were involved in this situation, an eighth grader, a freshman and a senior. It is still under investigation whether or not there was an immediate threat towards the school but because the handgun was confiscated immediately. Since there was no immediate threat towards the school, there was no reason for a lockdown.

   According to the Students Rights and Responsibilities [SR&R] the consequence students’ face if caught with a weapon on school property is a recommendation for expulsion. Each of the students apprehended in this situation face school and criminal charges.

 Fairfax County Police Officer Jon Watkins said, “We are not sure what the students will be charged with but one charge could be possession of a weapon on school property.”

   There has never been an incident at the school where a handgun was confiscated. However, in Meier’s second year as a principal there was a threat of a possible shooting at the school. A student sent a message to a person in another part of the state saying there was going to be a shooting at Robinson. The person who received the message immediately reported it to the authorities.

   “It was two days before Thanksgiving and the S.W.A.T. team was everywhere,” Meier said.

   The only reason the school would ever go under lockdown would be if there was an immediate threat towards the school, such as someone standing in the main hallway with a gun pointed at students, Meier said.

   The police were active in this situation. There was an administrative investigation before the three students were escorted out of the school for a police investigation.

   “The school did a great job at handling the situation,” Watkins said.

   Meier said he wants to protect the school environment as well as protecting the students who go to the school. Meier and Watkins both believe the school is one of the safest ones in the country.

    A week after there was a handgun brought into the school, a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School took place in Newton, Connecticut. In light of the event the school will practice a lockdown drill sometime in January.

   “The timing has had a positive and a negative effect on our incident. In a way it has raised concern for everyone about the possibility of gun violence in schools.” Meier said, “However in another way it has probably made our community even more concerned that we recently had a gun in our school.”