This story has been updated to reflect a statement from KPS.
On Friday, a Kalamazoo Central High School student was arrested for allegedly possessing a loaded firearm at school.
According to a Kalamazoo Township police report obtained by WMUK, a parent of a Hillside Middle School student told K-Central administrators one of their students might have brought a gun to school.
Police took the 16-year-old student out of class and found the gun in his backpack.
The student said the firearm had triggered the school’s weapons detectors when he came in that morning, but during a subsequent search, the gun was not found.
The report indicates police officers searched the backpack twice themselves before they found the gun in a concealed pocket.
When asked why he brought the firearm to school, the student said he wanted to protect himself.
In a statement published Tuesday afternoon, Kalamazoo Public Schools contradicted the student's recollection of events, stating that the weapons detectors failed to detect the loaded firearm.
"Video evidence indicates that when the student entered the school, the weapon detection system did not alert; thus, a secondary search was not conducted."
According to the statement, KPS installed the detectors at its schools last year, but added that they are "one layer of our safety and security practices."
"KPS has a comprehensive safety plan for every building and is one of the few school districts in the state to have weapon detection systems in every secondary school."
KPS says it will hold a meeting on safety and security practices at Kalamazoo Central's auditorium on Wednesday, October 28 at 5 pm.
