ISABELLA COUNTY, Mich. – Isabella County Sheriff Michael Main is expressing his remorse after he accidentally left his gun in a school locker room bathroom.
The Sheriff said he was at Shepherd Middle School for an event on Monday. He went to the locker room to change into his police uniform because he had to head to a work event. The gun was left behind in the bathroom and eventually found by a student at the school.
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Main issued the following statement Tuesday morning:
Yesterday I was made aware that the Shepherd Public Schools had located a firearm in a locker room bathroom. I almost immediately realized that the weapon they located was my secondary/backup firearm. I had been in the school on an event over the weekend and had used a locked locker room to change from my regular clothes to my police uniform, as I was headed to a work event.
In the 20 years of law enforcement service I have never left a weapon anywhere. I have no excuse for my lack of responsibility with this matter. I have worked diligently my entire career to protect people, especially our youth. However, I have failed to do just that, and I'm devastated with my lack of accountability in this matter.
I personally apologize to the student who found it and praise him for immediately contacting an adult. I apologize to the students of Shepherd, the staff and faculty as well. The Shepherd Schools work diligently to make sure they provide a safe campus every day and to have this occur is not any reflection of their success in doing so. The Shepherd School and Shepherd Police Department handled the incident very professionally and appropriately. I'm sorry that my actions caused them to have to deal with such a troubling issue.
Sadly, this type of event will portray a negative image of my Office and local law enforcement. I'm very sorry for the image of un-professionalism that it may cause. The law enforcement in this area work very hard every day to do the right thing and provide great service to the community.
I took yesterday off after I learned of the incident to try and comprehend the matter. I have been physically and emotionally distraught, which will not end anytime soon. I am prepared for the harsh criticism that will follow the release of this information. I understand clearly that I have a higher level of standard that must be met and quite frankly I let myself, my family and the community down. No matter how busy or how much is going on there is no excuse for this and I am truly sorry. This will not happen again.
Respectfully Sheriff Michael Main