2 students arrested after gun found at West Valley elementary school

PHOENIX — Two 13-year-old students at a West Valley elementary school were arrested Thursday after a gun was found on campus, authorities said.

A boy and a girl were taken into custody after an unloaded pistol was located in a Riverview Elementary School student’s backpack, according to police in El Mirage, a suburb about 20 miles northwest of downtown Phoenix.

No threats were made to students or staff, police said.

Officers responded to a neighborhood near Cactus and El Mirage roads around 8 a.m. after a student saw a weapon lying in the street while walking to school.

The student left the gun where it was and reported it to school staff.

Officers and staff searched the area but didn’t find the weapon.

However, investigators learned that another student picked up the gun and brought to campus before giving it to a schoolmate, police said.

School staff helped police find the pistol in a backpack, and the students involved in possessing it on campus were taken into custody.

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