HOUSTON — A student was arrested after a middle school dance in Humble ended in fear for both students and parents last weekend when a so-called “prank” simulated gunshots in the school gym.
Tonya Gee’s son, Ziggy, is a 6th-grade student at Kingwood Middle School. She volunteered to chaperone the school dance on Friday. But just before 8 p.m., as the dance got ready to end, there was chaos as what sounded like gunshots rang out.
A shaky video taken from inside the gym shows the panic as students can be heard screaming.
"Everyone ran out of the gym screaming, crying, hollering, like, scared," Gee said. "We were, like, what’s going on?"
Gee's son was just outside the gym eating a snack.
"We heard a loud boom," Ziggy said. "And everybody was running out screaming, ‘it’s a gun! It’s a gun!' It was a really scary moment because I didn’t want anybody to get harmed -- like my friends or my teachers."
Jamie Mount, Chief Communications Officer with Humble ISD, said a student set off firecrackers and caused panic. After an investigation by the district and the Humble ISD Police Department, a middle school student was identified and arrested.
"Today, a student was arrested for disrupting a gathering or event," Mount said. "It is unacceptable to cause people to fear for their safety."
The charge is a class B misdemeanor. Mount said the student will also be disciplined by the school, which could include expulsion.
At the time, Gee told her son to hide while she helped get kids out to safety.
“I was just thinking, 'I don’t know if this is real (or) if this is a prank but let’s just pretend like it’s real,'" Gee said.
Meanwhile, parents ran inside trying to get to their children.
"I saw the parents screaming and crying," Gee said.
On Monday, counselors were on hand at the school for kids who needed them. The district said 36 children sought counseling.
Mental health is something Gee and her three children know all about.
Ziggy and his brothers, Tyln and Noah, make up a group called the Gee Boys. Four years ago, after the suicide of one of their friends, they founded an outreach program called "Boxx Out Bullying."
"It’s a mental health foundation that brings awareness to bullying, suicide, mental health, violence," Gee said.
For more information about Boxx Out Bullying, click here.