by JOHN THOMPSON
jthompson@TheCitizen.com
and JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizen.com

School officials are still sorting out their response to the incident at Whitewater High School on the first day of classes that sent a shiver down every parent’s spine.

Robin Kittrell, 17, of Carrollwood Drive, was arrested after several loaded weapons were found in the trunk of his car Aug. 7. Since the incident, many parents and bloggers on The Citizen’s Web site have questioned the school system’s response and whether any students were in danger because Kittrell was allowed to walk into the school on the first day of classes.

Since the incident occurred, school spokesperson Melinda Berry-Dreisbach said, the school’s administration has been reviewing the procedures with other principals and seeing if any changes need to be adopted to the system’s standard operating procedure of dealing with tips on possible violent incidents.

“Safety has always been the first priority for our school system, and we will continue to fine-tune our policy as necessary,” Berry-Dreisbach said.

So far, there has not been a recommendation from other principals on changing any procedure, and Superintendent John DeCotis is thoroughly reviewing the situation.

When administrators at Whitewater High School first approached the school resource officer — a deputy with the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department — about a tip on Eric Kittrell, the information received was that he had brought a knife to campus the last few days of school and he was likely to do so again when school started, sheriff’s officials said.

The tip came in June after school was already out for the summer, said Sheriff’s Department Lt. Col. Bruce Jordan.

When Kittrell was called into the principal’s office and searched, a knife was found on his person, Jordan said. School officials and the resource officer then went to search Kittrell’s car, but were not expecting to find the four guns — two rifles and two handguns — that were kept in a large case in the car Aug. 7, Jordan said.

“It really caught us by surprise,” said school resource officer Jason Tutterow.

Had the initial tip been about firearms, Jordan said he would have been notified earlier in the process. But Jordan didn’t get the first call about it until just after officials found the weapons cache, he said.

Kittrell remains in the Fayette County Jail without bond.