(POWNAL, Vt.) — Police in Vermont are investigating after an elementary school student brought a firearm and dozens of rounds of ammunition to school, authorities said.
A student at Pownal Elementary in Pownal brought an unloaded 9 mm handgun and 67 rounds of ammunition to school on Wednesday, according to the Bennington County Sheriff’s Department.
The student “sent a message about it on social media,” and other students who saw the message reported it to their teachers “immediately,” the sheriff’s department said. The student was safely removed from the classroom and the firearm and ammunition taken from his backpack, the department said.
“Their quick thinking helped stop a bad situation before anyone got hurt,” Sheriff James Gulley said in a news release.
Two students notified Pownal Elementary School administrators that another student had indicated he was bringing a firearm to school, according to Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union Assistant Superintendent Laura Boudreau.
“The administration and campus safety officer met with the student, who admitted to having possession of the firearm in their backpack,” the Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union said in a letter sent to the school’s families. “The student surrendered the firearm to the administration and campus safety officer.”
School administrators contacted Vermont State Police, who dispatched a member of the Bennington County Sheriff’s Department, which is now investigating, the district said.
“At this time there is no indication that there are any further safety concerns to the school community,” the district’s letter stated.
Police did not release information on the age or grade of the student. The school enroll an 80 people with birth dates between 1930 and 1952 — putting them in their 70s, 80s or 90s — also had their Social Security numbers and birth dates published.
Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 23 directing the release of all remaining records related to the assassination, saying it was in the “public interest” to do so.
The records were posted to the National Archives’ website on Tuesday, joining recently released records posted in 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2017-2018.
Tuesday’s initial release contained 1,123 records comprising 32,000 pages. A subsequent release on Tuesday night contained 1,059 records comprising 31,400 additional pages.
More than 60,000 pages related to the 1963 assassination were released. Many of the pages had been previously disclosed, but with redactions. Many, but not all, redactions have been removed.
The records were posted to the National Archives webpage under the headline “JFK Assassination Records — 2025 Documents Release.”
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