Students arrested; one had weapon

Two Henderson students were arrested by school police in separate incidents involving allegations of threatening behavior as the 2018-19 year kicked off.

Staff at Green Valley High School noticed a 16-yearold male student was acting strangely Monday, and the student was arrested after he was found to be carrying a loaded gun, Clark County School District Police Capt. Ken Young said.

The student, whose name is not being released by police because he is a juvenile, will face charges of possession of a dangerous weapon on school property.

The investigation is ongoing, and Young said it wasn’t clear whether the student

ARRESTS

planned to use the gun.

“We give kudos to the staff for knowing their students and recognizing something wasn’t right with this student,” Young said.

The other arrest came Sunday, after school officials were tipped to two rumors regarding potential plans for school violence. One was deemed unfounded, but the other resulted in an arrest of a male Foothill High School student, Young

said Monday. The tips were reported through Safevoice, a statewide system where students can report bullying or other threats anonymously.

The student from Foothill will face charges of making a terroristic threat, Young said.

“The threat was basically to do a school shooting,” he said of the student. Young was unsure of the student’s age but confirmed he was a juvenile, meaning he will not be identified by police.

Young was unsure if weapons or any evidence that the student

intended to carry out the threat were found at his residence, but said officers found enough to make an arrest.

The arrests were the first of the school year.

During a press conference Monday morning, Superintendent Jesus Jara mentioned the arrests and encouraged students to “see something, say something.”

“It’s critical that our children are involved with our schools,” he said.

In addition to the arrests day, students at Mack Middle School, on East Karen Avenue near Boulder

Highway, spent part of the morning on “soft lockdown” until about 10:30 a.m., as police officers searched the area nearby for robbery suspects.

Students and staff were able to move through the school buildings, but were not able to leave or use outdoor areas.

“We still have smiling faces around here,” Principal Roxanne James said after the lockdown was lifted.

Contact Meghin Delaney at 702-383-0281 or mdelaney@ reviewjournal.com. Follow @ Meghindelaney on Twitter.