YOUNGSTOWN — An investigation is ongoing after a Chaney Middle School student was found to have a weapon Friday.

According to a news release from the Youngstown City School District, the student passed through a metal detector with a gun in his possession.

Youngstown police Capt. Jason Simon confirmed the episode occurred just before 10 a.m., and that the student is an eighth-grader who “thought he needed to protect himself,” but didn’t further elaborate.

He did say the weapon was a semi-automatic handgun.

The school’s resource officer “swiftly enacted safety protocols” and the student was removed from the front entrance of the school, the district release states. Then, emergency plan operations were carried out with law enforcement.

The weapon was not discharged, the release states.

“We are grateful to law enforcement for their prompt response and will continue to work with them during this investigation,” the release states.

Simon said that although there was a quick response and the district’s emergency plan was effective, it shows how much work still needs to be done in society, to make sure these types of situations don’t happen in the future.