It’s the kind of story that makes your stomach twist because it could have gone so wrong, so fast. At Fort Dorchester High School in North Charleston, South Carolina, police say a school resource officer pulled his gun on a student after hearing reports the teen might be armed.

According to authorities, a staff member told the officer that a student had reportedly claimed to be carrying a weapon. The officer entered the cafeteria, identified the student based on that description, and ordered him to take his hands out of his pockets. When the student reportedly said he had “a switch,” the officer drew his service weapon and ordered him to the ground. The student complied, was detained, and after a search, no weapon was found.

The district later confirmed the student was unarmed and that all safety procedures were followed. It also acknowledged the school went into a brief “hold” while the situation was investigated.

What complicates this further is that the student in question is autistic and enrolled in the school’s special education program. He’s required to be accompanied by an aide but wasn’t at the time. His family says the “switch” he referred to was a Nintendo Switch, a handheld gaming console he carries for comfort, while the officer likely thought he meant a “Glock switch,” a device that converts a pistol into a fully automatic weapon.

To be fair, I can’t blame the officer for asking what kind of switch the student was talking about. Given the times we live in and given that this happened in South Carolina, it’s a question that could easily mean the difference between safety and tragedy. But it’s also a grim reflection of what our schools have become: places where fear and firepower intersect and where a misunderstanding can bring a gun to a child’s face.

I can only imagine how differently this story might have ended if the student had been Black.

It’s worth remembering that stories like this make the news precisely because they’re the exception. The vast majority of school resource officers go through entire careers without incident. But like the proverbial plane crash, the rare failure makes headlines because the stakes are life and death. When an SRO misreads a situation, the cost isn’t just a headline; it’s a heartbeat away from tragedy.

And that’s the quiet terror of it all. We live in a world where a kid’s game console can be mistaken for a gun.

(Source)

• School resource officer pulls weapon on student at Fort Dorchester High School