By admin 
TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – In less than two months, six different incidents have been reported involving a student bringing a weapon to school in Pima County.
Read more Crews rescue hiker near Hunter Canyon in Cochise County
Those incidents happened between Aug. 10 and Sept. 16 and involved seven students. Of those seven, six allegedly brought a firearm to school.
The incidents happened at Gallego Intermediate, Alice Vail Middle, Marana High, Sunnyside High, Tortolita Middle and Pueblo High. That means the Marana, Tucson, and Sunnyside unified school districts were involved.
James Horton, a public information officer from the Tucson Police Department, said the TPD recognizes the seriousness of any incident involving a weapon at a school.
“We recognize the seriousness of any time a weapon goes onto a school campus; it’s very serious. But it’s statistically very low,” Horton said.
Horton said it is difficult to say whether the number of incidents is more than usual because different law enforcement agencies have responded to the incidents depending on location
“I don’t have hard stats in front of me, but you tell me that you’ve had six incidents – that’s concerning to me,” Mike Kurtenbach, the Arizona Department of Education’s school safety director, said.
Kurtenbach said this comes after the department added more than 400 school resource officers to schools across the state since 2018.
“They start to hear what’s going on; they become that trusted adult that’s on the campus,” Kurtenbach said.
Read more Man shot by ICE, detained with a bullet still in his back is back in the hospital, attorney says
Kurtenbach said he hopes the high number of incidents does not necessarily correlate with an actual increase in weapons getting onto campus.
“If we have an officer on that’s on the campus, yeah, that affords us the opportunity to catch that incident – a gun, a knife – whatever that case may be,” Kurtenbach said.
Horton said he agrees and thinks it could be the case, especially as TPD has begun emphasizing its “see something say something” outlook.
“We’re seeing that more students are not afraid to speak up if they see a student with a weapon so that they can alert staff and so that the staff can promptly and appropriately handle the situation,” he said.
Horton said he wants parents to know that regardless of whether a school has an officer, schools do have an emergency plan.
“Whether an officer is staffed at the time or not, generally it’s a lights-and-sirens response, numerous patrol officers responding to get into that school quickly and safely to make the school as safe as possible,” Horton said.
Kurtenbach said that after seeing the data and seeing how many schools and districts have requested more school resource officers, he has created a decision package to go to the governor’s desk to grow the school resource officer program.
BREAKDOWN OF INCIDENTS
There have been at least six instances of students with weapons on school grounds in southern Arizona in a little more than a month.
Read more Families push Arizona lawmakers for more cold case funding
- On Aug. 10, a Gallego Intermediate student was caught with a weapon on campus. The PCSD said the juvenile was arrested for interference with an educational institution, disorderly conduct, threats and intimidation, and carrying a weapon on school grounds.
- On Aug. 25, an Alice Vail Middle student was arrested for allegedly bringing a gun to school. The TPD said the student was arrested on a charge of possession of a firearm on school grounds and was brought to the juvenile detention center.
- On Aug. 26, a Marana High student was arrested after bringing a machete to school. The Marana Unified School District said the school’s security system detected the machete and the student told security about the weapon and said they simply forgot it was in their backpack. The district said the student never actually made it onto campus. There was also a mental health crisis on campus around the same time, and the district said the two incidents were not related.
- On Sept. 10, a Sunnyside High student was arrested after allegedly bringing a gun to campus. The TPD said school staff learned the student was armed and brought them into the office. The TPD said the student had a handgun and ammo and was charged with being a minor in possession of a firearm, aggravated assault against a school employee, and possession of a weapon on school grounds.
- On Sept. 10, there was an incident at Tortolita Middle. The PCSD said there were reports of a student with a weapon, but said no arrests were made.
- On Sept. 16, two Pueblo High students were arrested after they were caught with guns. The TPD said the boys were detained in the office and transported to the Pima Juvenile Court Detention Center.
Did you know 13 News has podcasts? Here’s the link to see the lineup.