Unfounded gun investigation leads to visitors' ban at Paola choir concert

Yahoo

22-05-2025

PAOLA, Kan. – Three young men were told not to return to Paola Schools last week after police ended up investigating whether they brought a gun to campus during a choir concert.
The investigation determined the report was unfounded. Now, some of those involved believe there was another motivating factor in the decision.
Paola schools say they were notified of a Snapchat picture after a choir concert last week, indicating someone may have had a gun in a backpack in a school parking lot. The district says the Snapchat group included three students who weren't part of the school district but who had been invited to see a friend sing.
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One of them was Melly Hill, 20, who was visiting from Olathe and brought a backpack with him with plans to stay at a friend's house.
'I just kind of find it crazy to me because everybody else had their bags and belongings and backpacks with them, but just for you to follow me out because I'm an African American individual is kind of crazy. I looked at it as I did nothing to threaten you, I sat there enjoyed the concert,' Hill said.
The choir member who invited the students, two Black, one white, went to the principal's office the next day.
'The way he kept referring to him multiple times as a large African-American male despite me reminding him multiple times what his name was, that just seemed like a jab toward his race,' the girl, 17, said.
Paola USD 368 Superintendent W. Matt Meek says descriptions were used for identification purposes only. The girl says that while in the principal's office, she was also told, 'people from Paola are not used to people of his kind.'
Meek denies that administrators said that or made any inappropriate statements.
But after still getting banned from the school despite police reviewing social media and determining no direct threats or that the alleged picture existed, the young people don't feel that way.
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'It just kind of blows my mind we are in the middle of 2025 thinking about racism and things like this, we shouldn't have to walk in a place and feel like you are threatened,' Hill said.
'I was showing them around and they were going to watch my performance and instead they were just retaliated against and remarks made about them when all they wanted to do was come and watch me so I feel very embarrassed,' the Paola student who asked not to be identified said.
The district says the three young men were asked not to return to campus to prevent future conflict because the investigation determined the students had been involved in a minor, inappropriate back-and-forth dialogue.
The district issued the following statement:
When school administration is made aware of student safety concerns an investigation is always conducted. In this instance assistance was requested from the Paola Police Department because they have the resources to reach out to individuals that are not a part of the Paola school system. At the conclusion of the investigation it was determined that the report was unfounded. The investigation did determine that students had been involved in a minor inappropriate back and forth dialogue. As such the three individuals that do not attend school in Paola USD 368 were requested to avoid being on campus for the last few days of the school year to prevent any further issues.
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