Student charged with bringing gun to Osseo school

An Osseo school district student charged with bringing a gun to school last week made his first court appearance Monday.

Joshua Bernard, 18, brought a handgun and ammunition to school at the Osseo Area Learning Center last Thursday, according to the criminal complaint. Brooklyn Center police officers pulled over a car Bernard was riding in Thursday evening. They smelled marijuana, searched the car and found the handgun in a backpack with live ammunition. The complaint said Bernard admitted he'd brought the gun to school that day.

Bernard was charged Friday with a felony count of possession of a dangerous weapon on school property.

Osseo Area Schools Community Relations Director Barb Olson said school officials are also investigating the incident separately from the criminal charge.

"School board policy allows for a range of consequences that enable administrators to apply discipline according to the seriousness of any situation — and we find this to be an extremely serious incident," Olson wrote in an email.

Olson said school officials learned about the incident last Friday but did not learn until Monday that charges had been filed against Bernard. Olson said school officials notified families about the incident shortly after learning about the charge.