15-year-old arrested for threatening to ‘shoot up’ Gilbert high school
May 21, 2018, 8:15 PM | Updated: May 22, 2018, 8:40 am
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PHOENIX — A 15-year-old student was arrested last week for threatening to “shoot up” a Gilbert high school, police confirmed on Monday.
Sgt. Darrell Krueger, a spokesman for the Gilbert Police Department, told KTAR News 92.3 FM that the unidentified Highland High School student stated he was “going to shoot up the school” over frustration with his grades.
Krueger said the comment was made by the suspect to a student and was overheard by another student.
The male student was arrested on May 18 for the threatening comment and booked into juvenile detention, he added.
“Our department takes school threats very seriously and we will continue conducting thorough investigations, and take appropriate enforcement efforts, to maintain student safety,” Krueger said.
The comment would have been made on the same day that a 17-year-old allegedly shot and killed 10 people, mostly students, at a Houston-area high school.
Dimitrios Pagourtzis, a student at Santa Fe High School, was taken into custody and charged with capital murder after allegedly killing 10 and wounding 14 more.
A candlelight vigil, organized by March for Our Lives Arizona, was being held for the shooting victims at the state Capitol on Monday night.