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2nd grader accused of threatening students with knife at Livonia elementary school, parents say

By and Amber Ainsworth
Published  September 28, 2022 5:26pm EDT
Crime and Public Safety
FOX 2 Detroit

7-year-old brings knife to Livonia school; parents say he threatened students

A student at Cleveland Elementary School brought a pocket knife to the Livonia school and had it out on the playground. Parents say he threatened students, though the school district will not comment on those claims.

LIVONIA, Mich. (FOX 2) - A second-grade student brought a pocket knife to Cleveland Elementary School in Livonia on Tuesday, and parents say he threatened other students with it.

"Picked him up from school yesterday. He said one of the boys in class had told him he had a pocket knife and that he was going to kill one of the other boys and that if he said anything he was going to kill him, too," said Jennifer Zanger, whose son is also in second grade at the school.

Zanger said she wasn't notified by the school about what happened that morning until late afternoon.

"It was pretty vague. It basically just said there was an incident that happened, but they handled it swiftly," Zanger said.

That limited information left parents speculating and comparing stories with other parents whose children were around.

"We have to rely on the info of a 7-year-old, which isn't much, but it's better than nothing," Zanger said.

On Wednesday afternoon, parents got a bit more information. Livonia Public Schools sent an email saying that the child did bring a pocket knife to school, wielding it on the playground, but no one was hurt. They said for privacy reasons, they couldn’t elaborate if that wielding was in a threatening manner. A spokesperson confirmed this information via phone. 

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That child is on suspension for now.

"I would kind of prefer he was suspended to get his mental checked and his home life checked," said a parent of two students at the school. 

Zanger said she feels bad for the child. Both mothers agree that they want to be notified right away of issues like what happened this week.

"I feel bad for him. I mean he's 7 now for the rest of his life this is going to follow him. I mean he's 7," Zanger said.

The school’s liaison officer with Livonia police is also assisting in steps forward. FOX 2 reached out to Livonia police to see how exactly they’re involved in the investigation, but they have not responded.