A Tempe was arrested on Tuesday after it was discovered that he brought a gun to school.
According to the Tempe Police Department, at 8:30 Tuesday morning, Tempe Police arrested a 15-year-old Marcos de Niza student for bringing a firearm to the high school at 6000 S. Lakeshore Dr.
On Monday afternoon, Marcos de Niza administrators and campus School Resource Officers (SROs) first learned of a troubling social media video depicting a student with a gun in a Marcos de Niza bathroom. Police and school administration contacted a specific student who did not have a weapon in his possession and denied having any information regarding a video.
On Tuesday, the high school administration and the SRO received information from a concerned adult, also regarding a student who posted a video with a gun in a Marcos De Niza bathroom. After obtaining that video before school on Tuesday, school security identified the student with the gun. Upon arriving at school, the student was confronted by the SRO, school security and administration and immediately ran into a nearby neighborhood.
Police have not confirmed if the video that Marcos De Niza administrators and campus SRO’s learned about Monday, is related to, or is the same video that administrators and the SRO were provided by a concerned adult Tuesday.
On Tuesday, Marcos de Niza High School was placed on lockdown from approximately 8:15 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Because of the proximity to the high school, Fees Middle School and Rover Elementary were also placed on a brief lockdown.
Tempe Police established a perimeter and swiftly located and arrested the student who jumped a number of fences and was hiding in the backyard of a home. A black handgun, similar to the one shown in the social media video, was also located in the backyard.
“I thank the students who stepped up to report this disturbing video rather than reposting it on social media,” said Tempe Police Chief, Ken McCoy. “I also thank our school resource officers and our ACTION team who worked with school administrators to quickly make an arrest in this case.”