KNOXVILLE (WVLT) – Eight days after a shooting at Central High School killed a student, staff at another Knox County high school have caught two students armed with pistols.

On Thursday, school district officials said several students at Austin-East High School alerted administrators about a student who had a gun. When they investigated, they discovered the student was on school grounds with an unloaded .32 caliber revolver. Students again alerted administrators a day later, and they discovered this time, a student had a loaded .38 caliber pistol. Both of the students were 17 years old.

“It's just mind-blowing to me, it’s crazy,” said Kim Day, an Austin-East student.

"It's of great concern and it's scary that we had two firearms recovered from a school,” said Jim McIntyre, supervisor of Knox County Schools, “but it's also important and positive that we recovered them and they didn't go undetected."

Upon learning of the incidents, some Austin-East parents said they were on edge. Just a week before, a 15 year old student was shot in the cafeteria of Central High School while waiting for the morning bell.

"I'm worried my kids, going to call me yelling, ‘mommy, mommy, they shooting up the school,’” said Javon Booker, an Austin-East parent. “That's not something to live with everyday."

The presence of security has been felt at Austin-East all year according to some students.

"We have so many security guards and teachers patrolling the hallways all the time," said Anthony Greenlee, who never expected a pair of pistols to be found in his high school.

In light of the recent gun incidents, the school system wants to give its parents some peace of mind. To do so, they will try to upgrade security on campuses. Starting on Monday, students entering Austin-East will be scanned with hand-held metal detectors and security guards will randomly search some students' backpacks.

Administrators believe the best thing they can do for school security is to build up trust and communication between the faculty and student body. That’s one of the reasons the staff found both guns at Austin-East.

"If students have information regarding their safety, then they can bring that information to an adult in the school and we can help ensure that the info is acted on," said McIntyre.

Both teens have been charged with carrying a gun onto school grounds. Besides the legal charge, Knox County Schools have a zero tolerance gun policy, which means the students could be expelled.