Teen hailed as hero for reporting classmate with gun and preventing possible school shooting

Kristine Solomon
A teen brought two handguns and dozens of rounds of ammunition to school to allegedly kill people in honor of his late fahther. (Photo: Getty Images)
A teen brought two handguns and dozens of rounds of ammunition to school to allegedly kill people in honor of his late father. (Photo: Getty Images)

Last week, a student at Sage Valley Junior High School in Gillette, Wyo., made headlines after he was arrested for bringing loaded handguns to school. Now another classmate — the one responsible for blowing the whistle and possibly preventing a deadly school shooting — is being hailed a hero. A local couple has even expressed thanks by raising funds for the unidentified teen.

Joel and Andreanna Elbert learned that the unnamed student was hanging out at his locker on Nov. 13 when the potential shooter, 14-year-old Dale Warner, walked down the hall and boldly brandished a 40-caliber handgun. He allegedly had two handguns and 36 rounds of ammunition in total on his person and in his locker. He told the student who spotted him not to tell anyone.

Apparently Warner had issued the same warning to three other peers, who knew Warner was armed — and had even heard him threaten to shoot a student and some staff members “because he was unhappy with them,” said Police Chief Jim Hloucal. But those kids chose not to report him “because they were scared of what he might do to them or because they thought he wasn’t serious about harming people,” according to the Gillette News Record.

The teen who wound up saving his school had actually gone to class first in a state of shock after seeing the gun, according to the Gillette News Record, but quickly had a change of heart and marched to the school’s main office to report the gunslinging student to authorities. “This is a classic case where someone had information that was concerning and did the right thing by reporting to law enforcement and staff right away,” Hloucal told the news outlet.

Police were called and immediately put the school on lockdown for 90 minutes as a precaution while conducting an investigation. They were able to find and confiscate the firearms and ammunition, then interview students who had crucial information about the shooting plot, which they said was Warner’s bizarre way of paying homage to his late father. They then took Warner into custody, and he has been charged as an adult. The teen faces nine counts of attempted first-degree murder — one count for each person he mercilessly threatened to shoot.

When they first found out it was a student who busted the would-be shooter, people all over social media were clamoring for a chance to recognize the anonymous teens, so the Elberts stepped up, as their daughter is also a student at the school and actually sat across from the shooter in science class. They believe a fund is the least they can do for a teen who theoretically saved countless lives. “Instead of planning Thanksgiving, we culd be planning funerals right now,” Andreanna told Yahoo Lifestyle. “Something needed to be done to show how grateful we are.”

The fund, set up at Campco Federal Credit Union, was started with a $100 investment rom Elberts, and has snowballed from there. The account is still accepting donations (call 307-682-6105 for more information if you care to contribute), and Andreanna said she hopes people “bombard” it with money. Once the fundraising has run its course, she said, she will shut down the account and cut a check to principal at Sage Valley, who she will ask to distribute it to the student. The couple hope the student will use the cash for something that makes life better “because they made all of our lives a lot better.”

Alex Ayers, a superintendent for the Campbelly County School District, says the schools do have safety measures in place for potential violence, like a shooting, but they’re not foolproof — especially when a student is concealing a weapon. He said the teen’s actions are an example of the most beneficial outcomes of following a refrain common in the educational community and beyond: When you see something, say something. “That’s the message we need to keep promoting, Ayers said.

Yahoo Lifestyle has reached out to Campbell County School District for comment on the incident and the teen who reported it. We’ll update this story when we hear back.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.