Massachusetts

Live Handgun Round Found in Middle School Hallway: Police

School officials sent out a warning to parents that the school was going into what they called a "learn in place" to keep students continuing with their daily lessons while staying in the same classroom after two students found a live handgun round

A live handgun round was found by two students in the hallway of a Massachusetts middle school on Friday morning, prompting a temporary shelter-in-place as police swept the building.

Police said the handgun round was found at Beverly Middle School by two fifth grade boys, who immediately contacted adults at the school. After sweeping through the school with K-9s, police determined there was no threat.

School officials sent out a warning to parents that the school was going into what they called a "learn in place" to keep students continuing with their daily lessons while staying in the same classroom.

The school has since returned to normal operations, but police officers stayed on campus l for the remainder of the school day.

It's unclear how the live handgun round was left. Police say they're looking into whether it fell out of someone's pocket, if it fell out of a backpack or if it had been purposefully placed, and investigators said they will go through the middle school's cameras to see how the live round got there.

Parents tell NBC10 Boston they were shaken by the news, but said they think the police response to the disturbing discovery went as smoothly as possible.

"I started to get more comfortable when I heard the cops were here and they were bringing the K-9s through," the father of a Beverly Middle School fifth grader said.

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