Father Whose Son Caused Code Red Lockdown at Pine Middle School in Reno Speaks Out

A student with a weapon caused a code red lockdown at Pine Middle School in Reno Thursday afternoon. School district officials have not yet specified what the weapon was, but the student's father says it was a knife. The student is in custody, and officials say there were no injuries. 

Thursday night we sat down with the boy's family to hear from them about the incident. Franklin Brooks, his father, says his son was with him at their home Thursday, because he had recently been released from Willow Springs Center, a psychiatric hospital for kids and teens.

Brooks says he went outside to see where his son could be going, and realized he could be going to Pine Middle School,

"I knew something was wrong when I can hear police sirens going," Brooks said. "And I see him walking out to the school, and I went and told my daughter, I'm going to go after my son."

He reached the school and approached police right away. He was told to standby as they handled the situation. Brooks says shortly after he saw his son carried out in handcuffs, and after about 20 minutes, he got to talk to his son.

"I wasn't upset," Brooks said. "I understood because of what he's been through, you know, I understand."

Brooks says his son is autistic, and says he has a difficult time with many social interactions. Brooks and his daughters say they believe today's events were caused from bullying their brother has experienced.

"Honestly, I'm just so done with my brother coming home crying his eyes out," Yasuko Brooks said. "Saying they're bullying me, they're threatening this, they're threatening that."

We reached out to Washoe County School District about the family's concerns, but we are waiting on a response. Regarding today's incident, WCSD says there is nothing as important as the safety of their students. These are the school district's policies and practices surrounding bullying: https://www.washoeschools.net/page/845

Officials with the Children's Cabinet say there are plenty of resources available for parents and kids who aren't sure what to do about a bully.

"If you're a youth who feels like you're in a situation where you're being bullied, don't go through it in silence," said Taylor Morgan with the family and youth interventions department.

He says talk to someone. The Children's Cabinet runs a program called safe place, where business partners like McDonald's have been trained to safely shelter and speak to a child looking for help.

He says there's also the crisis call center, where kids dealing with depression, abuse or thoughts of suicide can call or text the hotline for expert advice.

"A youth in that situation might need counseling services so to either check with your insurance company to see what providers may be able to provide counseling or even through the Children's Cabinet we offer free family counseling services to kids and youth who are in need," said Morgan.