9-year-old student, parents face charges over gun brought to Valley school

PHOENIX – Southeast Valley police said Wednesday they will submit charges against a 9-year-old student and his parents after the boy allegedly brought a gun to school last week.

Police said there is no indication the Legacy Traditional School Queen Creek fourth grader intended to harm anybody.

“During an interview with a detective, the child stated he carried the firearm for self-protection ‘from a potential abduction’ as he traveled to and from school by himself,” the Queen Creek Police Department said in a press release.

Staff at the charter school searched the boy’s backpack when he arrived on campus the morning of Aug. 25. A day earlier, a fellow student told a parent that the accused was in possession of a bullet and the parent alerted school officials, according to police.

The staff contacted police after finding a gun in the backpack. The weapon contained a loaded magazine, but the chamber was empty, police said.

The student faces one count each of minor prohibited possession, a class 6 felony, and possessing a deadly weapon on school grounds, a class 1 misdemeanor. The boy’s charges are going to the Pinal County Juvenile Justice Court system.

His parents are facing one count of contributing to delinquency and dependency, a class 1 misdemeanor.

The Queen Creek Police Department said it will submit the charges to the Pinal County Attorney’s Office for consideration.

“As we investigate these incidents, we base all charging decisions on facts and evidence. Bringing a firearm onto a school campus, loaded or unloaded, is against the law,” Chief Randy Brice said in a statement.

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