Questions remain after student found with handgun inside Dunbar High School

BALTIMORE (WBFF) — Questions remain after Baltimore City Public Schools confirmed a student was taken into custody after being found in possession of a handgun, including how the student got the gun into the school.

“I’d be very curious to understand how he got the gun in the school. Did it get through our systems? Did it go around the systems?” Mark Conway, Baltimore City Councilman, questioned.

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The “systems” Conway is referring to is the gun detection technology known as Evolv that’s currently in place at the entrances of Baltimore City public high schools.

The school district recently purchased the technology to detect weapons as individuals enter the building, much like a metal detector.

Just last month Conway, who serves as Chair of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee, pressed the school district on the technology that came with a four-year contract and $5.5 million price tag.

During the hearing, the district revealed there are currently 53 systems across 27 high schools.

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In a pilot program, the systems processed about 14,000 entries each morning across the schools with about 30% triggering alerts. The majority of those alerts were benign items, like a laptop or case for glasses, the district reported.

According to the district, the technology did not detect any guns last year and as of last month only one BB gun was detected so far this year.

“I had a lot of questions about what we paid for and how it differed from a traditional metal detector system and how much that would have cost comparatively. We didn’t really get answers to those questions in the hearing. They didn’t have that information ready, but it’s going to be important for us,” Conway said.

FOX45 News sent a list of questions to Baltimore City Public Schools asking:

• Has BCPS/ City Schools Police determined how the student got the weapon into the school?
• Did the student pass through the weapons detection system Evolv with the firearm?
• If so, did the technology fail to detect the firearm?
• If the student got the firearm into the school through another entrance, is the District looking to possibly add the technology to areas in addition to front entrances?

Those questions remain as the district has not yet responded.