Swampscott school on edge following bullet discovery

SWAMPSCOTT – School officials are trying to find out why two students brought a shotgun bullet to the middle school on Wednesday.Swampscott Middle School Principal Ralph Watson said the incident was immediately reported to police and a search of the building was conducted.”Nothing else was found,” he said. “It was admitted that only the one bullet was brought to school, no gun or other weapon was found or believed to have been in the school.”Watson explained the incident in a letter he sent home to parents on Thursday.”There was no intent to harm anyone, but more out of adolescent curiosity. Due to the fact it is an open case and an ongoing investigation, I am not at liberty to share more details,” he wrote in the letter.William Travascio, who has two daughters attending the middle school, said he didn’t find out about the incident until Thursday morning when the district sent out an e-mail.”I like to think my girls are safe in school but it is a concern,” he said. “What really concerns me is this could have turned out very badly because it was a live shell. A live bullet can go off without being shot out of a gun and that really bothers me.”Gretchen Wollerscheid, who also has a child at the middle school, said she is pleased with the way the incident was handled and doesn’t believe her child was in any danger.”I think it was a matter of a child’s curiosity,” she said. “I think it’s great the principal notified the parents because it may have been alarming if we had heard it from our children.”Watson said school officials are working closely with police and the students would be disciplined according to school policy.”We will be dealing with the students involved according to the district and building handbook, which will include severe consequences in addition to education on the dangers of making such a poor choice,” Watson said.Police and school officials urged individuals to use the Swampscott Police Department TipSoft Text Tips, which allows information to be sent anonymously by encrypting messages and routing them through several secure servers.The program also allows police to respond by text message to the originating cell phone without knowing the phone number or identity of the individual who left the tip.You can send your anonymous tips to “CRIMES” or 274637 and enter the keyword “SPD” before the actual text message.