Student accused of bringing gun to St. Michael's High in February

Mar. 19—A student at St. Michael's High School faces a possible felony charge after, police say, he was found with an unloaded handgun on school grounds in February.

Police arrested the 14-year-old boy, and he was booked into San Juan Juvenile Detention Center following the Feb. 12 incident, according to reports from Santa Fe Police Department.

St. Michael's High School Principal Mike Sandoval said staff followed the school's protocols in handling the incident.

"In this case, there were no threats, we were able to locate the weapon quickly based on the information we had, the weapon was confiscated and police were called in," Sandoval said Tuesday. He added police arrived at the school within 15 minutes.

A school staff member told police he searched the student's backpack earlier that day and found a 9 mm Glock handgun after a teacher was tipped off by other students, the police report says.

Police wrote the handgun contained an empty magazine with no ammunition.

The student told police another 14-year-old boy had placed the handgun in his backpack earlier that morning, the report states. He told them he believed it was "an Airsoft gun and not real," police wrote.

Police wrote in a report from a follow-up investigation the other boy's father told investigators his son had stolen the gun but would not say from whom.

The department provided a criminal complaint with a felony charge of "unlawful carrying of a deadly weapon on school premises" against the first boy. An officer wrote in a report he recommended filing the same charge against the second boy.

Sandoval declined to say whether the school took disciplinary action against either student.