An anonymous tipster is being credited for notifying officials that senior Robin Kittrell planned to take guns to Whitewater High School in middle Fayette County Monday morning.

Because of the information, Principal Greg Stillions was able to act quickly when school began Monday morning, calling Kittrell into his office so the student could be searched, said school spokesperson Melinda Berry-Driesbach.

Anyone with information that someone might compromise the safety of any Fayette school is urged to call the sheriff’s office — particularly outside of regular school hours — in addition to school officials, Berry-Driesbach said.

Students who hear about a possibly dangerous situation involving other students at school should alert a member of the school faculty immediately if they are on campus, said Lt. Col. Bruce Jordan of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office. If they learn about the matter at home, students should tell their parents and then call 911, he added.

“Students have just as much a responsibility to keep the school safe as the faculty does,” Jordan said.

Jordan praised Whitewater Principal Greg Stillions for acting on information that Kittrell had brought a weapon to school.

“Stillions is the only way we knew about it,” Jordan said.

Whitewater High students didn’t even realize that anything had happened when school started, but they were made aware of the situation in the afternoon when they were given a letter to take home explaining what happened.

Berry-Driesbach praised Stillions’ efforts to act quickly, noting that the principal knew of Kittrell’s plans well in advance and was able to juggle all the other first-day-of-school duties in addition to handling the Kittrell situation.

“They were real lucky,” said Fayette County Sheriff Randall Johnson. “That could have been a disaster.”

Whitewater is located south of Fayetteville off Ga. Highway 85. The school is the county’s fifth and newest high school. It began with a ninth grade class, which has now moved up to becoming the school’s first senior class.

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