Update: Pittsfield Schools Superintendent Jason McCandless released a statement aimed at clarifying whether a gun found at Herberg Middle School Oct. 16th was loaded. McCandless says Mayor Dan Bianchi was with him and his staff as they wrote a press release that Friday afternoon.
“I provided the information that the weapon was unloaded, but did have a loaded magazine beside it,” McCandless said in the statement. “I did not, in my haste, verify this with the arresting officer. The press release was sent, in order to fulfill our need to communicate swiftly with our community. This error was a misunderstanding on my part.”
McCandless says he learned on Monday, Oct. 19 that the magazine was in the handgun.
“Within an hour of realizing this, a corrected release was sent to local media outlets by my office, and a corrected version was put onto our website atwww.pittsfield.net under the heading “Recent News,” writes McCandless. “At 7:30 PM a call went out to all families and staff in the Pittsfield Public Schools to correct this factual error.”
WAMC did not receive the corrected release McCandless mentioned.
The handgun that was found in a locker at a Pittsfield middle school on Friday was loaded, according to Berkshire District Attorney David Capeless. That’s in contrast to a statement from the mayor’s office.Speaking with The Berkshire Eagle Monday, Capeless said the gun found at Herberg Middle School was fully loaded. On Friday afternoon, Mayor Dan Bianchi’s office said the pistol was not loaded, but a clip with bullets was found next to the gun. During a mayoral debate Monday night, Bianchi reversed that statement.
“I was there within minutes of it happening,” Bianchi said. “And there’s nothing more frightening than to have a gun, and a loaded gun, in a school setting.”
Capeless said the information his office had from Pittsfield Police was that the gun was loaded. He added he was dismayed the mayor’s office would release incorrect information. Police Chief Michael Wynn was quoted in the mayor’s release.
