WHITNEY, TX — 25 News obtained a police report Tuesday that was filed in August 2019 after the Whitney High School vice principal left her gun unattended in a restroom on campus.
Around 2:40 p.m. on August 28, 2019, an officer was asked to help two teachers. The officer was led to the female teacher's restroom and asked if he could remove an item that was sitting on the table in the restroom.
The officer looked at the table and saw a black semi-automatic pistol, later identified as a Ruger LC9s with Lasermax sight on it, sitting on the table. The officer asked the teachers if they knew who it belonged to, and they said no.
The officer unloaded and secured the pistol in his pant pocket out of sight of others.
He then contacted the manager of the guardian program at Whitney ISD and informed him of the situation. The two met in the officer's office to verify if the pistol belonged to one of the guardians. The manager said the pistol belonged to Whitney High School vice principal Jennifer Pair, who is one of the guardians at the school. The officer secured the pistol in his desk.
Pair was called into the office and asked if she had her pistol. She responded yes. She then went to feel for it and said she did not have it and that she must have left it in the bathroom.
The officer retrieved the pistol from his desk and asked Pair if it was hers. He then turned possession of the pistol over to her.
The officer contacted Whitney Chief of Police Chris Bentley and informed him of the situation. Chief Bentley told the officer he needed to make some calls and would get back to him.
Chief Bentley then spoke with the officer later and told him the Hill County Attorney said no criminal charges would fit in this situation and that it was a school policy matter.
Superintendent John McCullough issued a letter to parents Tuesday saying "the safety of our students is our first priority and the main reason the Guardian Program was implemented in Whitney ISD."
