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Student caught with gun at North-South football game By Morgan Rothborne Updated: Nov 03, 2022 04:08 PM A A During the Oct. 28 Black and Blue Bowl football game — the annual showdown between North and South Medford high schools — a student armed with a handgun was removed from Spiegelberg Stadium by school resource officers, according to school officials. “During the Black and Blue Bowl Friday night, our school resource officers received a report of an armed student at Spiegelberg Stadium,” said an emailed statement from the Medford School District. “With every SRO at the game and the help of school personnel, police apprehended the student in about five minutes.” After being detained by police, the student with the gun claimed the weapon was for self-defense, and he had no plans to harm anyone else, officials said. The student was not named, and police did not say which school the student attended. Officials said the student did not brandish the weapon or threaten anyone, but that someone had reported the armed student. “We are constantly monitoring the threats in the community. We look at each day and event on a case-by-case basis,” said Ron Havniear, director of facilities, security and leadership for the Medford School District, in a Zoom press conference Thursday afternoon. He declined to comment on any specific details about the incident, including whether the student was detained in juvenile jail. Havniear described the Medford School District’s security system as multilayered and robust, and said officials seek always to strike a balance between being an open and welcoming district while protecting students and staff. For the 37th annual Black and Blue Bowl, the district measured the expected crowd size and determined a high security presence was required, Havniear said. The district had all of its school resource officers in attendance, along with Medford police patrol officers, campus monitors from each high school to ensure there were staff familiar with individual students, and additional game management staff. “We try to deter and detect; we try to also have a lot of preventative measures in place — develop a positive school culture. ... But we also want to have a robust response system in place if need be,” he said. Havniear encouraged students and families to report any suspicious behavior concerning the school to the Safe Oregon tip line, 844-472-3367 or [email protected]. The Medford Police Department declined to comment on the incident. Reach Mail Tribune reporter Morgan Rothborne at [email protected] or 541-776-4487. Follow her on Twitter @MRothborne.