SCOTTSDALE, AZ — A juvenile has been arrested after a gun was found in a classroom at Mountainside Middle School in Scottsdale Thursday afternoon.
Police say a student told staff that there was a gun on the floor in a classroom. A school resource officer confirmed that it was a loaded handgun.
According to the Scottsdale Police Department, the lockdown was prompted as a precaution and nobody was injured.
The school was on lockdown for three hours and police say students were released about 10 minutes after the normal release time.
School officials said Friday morning that an arrest was made overnight. Scottsdale police said the person who was arrested was an 11-year-old boy, whose name will not be released because he is a juvenile.
Scottsdale Police tell ABC15, the student who reported the gun was the suspect. But at the time, police say the boy told them he didn't know who the gun belonged to.
Police say the small handgun was lying underneath a desk. Police also say the student did not intend 'ill will or an attempt to use it'.
ABC15 wanted insight from a legal standpoint into what happens after an incident like this.
Anthony W. Contente-Cuomo with Sims Mackin Ltd. has practiced with over 200 Arizona school districts for over 15 years.
He has worked for Scottsdale Unified School District in the past but not in this specific case.
"Where I would be coming in is typically on the expulsion end of things,” Contente-Cuomo said. “Where, statutorily speaking, they are required to expel a student for a full year, who has been determined to have brought a firearm to the school and the district can modify that if they so choose on a case-by-case basis. However, a jury really considering the seriousness of bringing a firearm picking a loaded firearm to an educational institution."
While the district could not comment specifically on this case, based on their code of conduct, the student will have an expulsion hearing.
We asked if the boy’s parents would be charged and Scottsdale police say the investigation is ongoing.
Police say the possible charges that are being filed are as follows: minor prohibited from possessing firearms, possessing deadly weapons on school grounds, and recklessly handling deadly weapons.
