Verrado High School staff disarms student who brought gun to campus

PHOENIX – Staff at a West Valley high school disarmed a student who brought a gun to campus Wednesday morning, authorities said.

Police arrested the 15-year-boy after two Verrado High School staff members got the gun away from him, Carissa Planalp, public information officer for the Buckeye Police Department, told KTAR News 92.3 FM.

“The good news is nobody was hurt,” Planalp said. “Buckeye police are investigating right now to see why the student brought the weapon to school and how he obtained it.”

The school was put on lockdown because of the incident and classes were canceled for the day after it was resolved.

Staff first learned that somebody might have a gun on campus around 8 a.m. and notified the full-time school resource officer (SRO).

The officer stopped a student who ran away, but that student wasn’t armed. While that was going on, staff was alerted to the boy with the gun.

Two staff members were then able to disarm the boy after a struggle, police said.

Planalp said the police department’s SROs sometimes work at the same school for years and become very familiar with staff.

“That coordination and communication come in to play when we have an incident like this,” she said.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Taylor Tasler contributed to this report.

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