Normally it’s no cause for alarm, but school officials and police want students to have a safe learning environment.

Sioux Falls Police Public Information Officer Sam Clemens says a student at Lincoln High School was in possession of a knife on Monday. The student allegedly showed it while riding the bus to school and then was found in a backpack. Clemens believes this is how most incidents of this type play out.

“Most of the time they have it with them. It’s a student or staff come across (a weapon) by hearing about it or see it because it’s being shown off. Staff is alerted a search begins and it’s found.”

In almost all cases, Clemens believes that the occurrence of knives found at school are common but generally not malicious.

“Based on the past few years, there’s a lot of kids that bring knives to school. They give a lot of reasons (for why they have a knife), sometimes they forgot it was there, they show it to friends, every once in a while somebody will say they brought it for protection.”

The student was charged with having a weapon on school grounds which Clemens says will happen in almost every case. Then the school district will have its own disciplinary measures on top of the criminal proceedings.

Clemens estimates that twice a month a knife is found at school.


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