‘I’ll show you bullets’ sends Delta into lockdown

What began as an apparently innocent quarrel among Grade 11 learners over a missing vape device sent Delta Secondary School into lockdown this week after a learner allegedly threatened another with the words: “I’ll show you bullets.”

There were ultimately no bullets and no gun, but the school administration could not have known that when the words were uttered during a confrontation that had already become physical.

In a country where schools have previously dealt with learners carrying weapons and incidents of serious violence, the possibility that the threat could be literal was enough to send the school into precautionary mode.

Hoster Simasiku, deputy director of the Khomas educational directorate, said the incident happened on Wednesday after break when several Grade 11 learners were reportedly sharing a vape.

The vape was passed from learner to learner before it disappeared, triggering an argument over what had happened to it and who might have taken it. The disagreement eventually developed into a physical fight involving some of the learners, during which one allegedly told another: “I’ll show you bullets.”

It was a brief remark in the heat of an adolescent quarrel, but its meaning was serious enough for those who heard about it to wonder whether there might actually be a firearm or ammunition at the school.

School takes no chances

The concern was not entirely without precedent. In January 2018, an 11-year-old learner took a pistol to Iimbili Combined School in the Ohangwena region and, while handling it during break, allegedly shot and killed a 13-year-old Grade 5 classmate.

Namibian schools have also experienced other forms of weapon-related violence. In January 2020, a Grade 10 learner at Okahandja Secondary School allegedly stabbed a teacher with a knife on the school premises, prompting the education ministry to warn at the time about the potentially fatal consequences of learners bringing weapons to school.

At Windhoek's Eldorado Secondary School, learners were left shocked in 2023 when a parent allegedly stabbed a teacher in the chest with a screwdriver following a disciplinary dispute involving the man's child. The education ministry later said it would strengthen security measures at schools.

Against that background, Delta's administrators were hardly in a position to gamble on what the word “bullets” meant.

Learners were instructed to remain in their classrooms while the school was placed under lockdown and a search was conducted to establish whether a firearm, ammunition or another weapon was somewhere on the premises.

The search eventually found nothing, and a sense of calm returned.

Simasiku said no firearm or other weapon was discovered, while the learner who allegedly made the statement subsequently explained that the reference to bullets had been figurative rather than an indication that he actually had access to a gun.

The explanation ended the immediate security scare, but only after an ordinary school day had been disrupted by the search and lockdown.

Three words, one security scare

Namibia's education regulations help explain the cautious response. Schools are required to act when violence involving stabbing, shooting, fighting or gang-related activity occurs, while national learner conduct rules prohibit firearms, knives and other dangerous objects on school premises.

By Thursday, the focus had shifted from the non-existent bullets to the object that had started the trouble in the first place.

Delta Secondary School called parents to a meeting to discuss the incident, with vaping among learners, discipline and measures to prevent similar episodes forming part of the discussions. Parents were also engaged on the need for stronger cooperation between families and the school in dealing with learner behaviour.

The sequence of events left the school with an unusual disciplinary tale: a vape was shared, the vape disappeared, accusations followed, a quarrel became physical, and three words suddenly transformed the dispute into a potential security emergency.

For the learners involved, what may have begun as little more than an argument over who had lost a vape ended with classrooms locked down and adults searching for a firearm.