A tense week at Kenosha's Bradford High School got even more unsettling Thursday morning when police arrested a 15-year-old student in a school hallway after reports he had been seen with a gun off campus. Officers said they later found gun magazines and ammunition on him, but no firearm, and a sweep of the building and surrounding grounds turned up nothing else. The arrest added another layer of anxiety to a stretch already marked by student-related incidents across the district, as reported by FOX6 Milwaukee.
What police say
Officers said the teen had an active probation hold detainer and that tips suggested the weapon might be at his home, according to FOX6 Milwaukee. Police coordinated with school administrators so they could locate and detain the student quietly in a hallway, without any confrontation, the outlet reported.
Detectives then searched the school and nearby grounds but did not find a firearm or other relevant items, authorities said. The department has stated that it does not believe a gun was brought onto school property and that the investigation remains active.
One day after a loaded-gun arrest
Thursday's arrest landed just one day after a different Bradford student was taken into custody Wednesday, when officers recovered a concealed, loaded firearm on campus, TMJ4 reported.
That earlier case triggered a visible police presence at the school and rattled families and staff. Officials have said community tips and social media posts have been key to how these incidents have unfolded, essentially turning students and parents into an informal early-warning system.
District weighing safety changes
Kenosha Unified School District Superintendent Jeff Weiss said incidents like these weigh heavily on administrators and that the district is considering additional safety measures, including controlled entrances and tools to screen for weapons, FOX6 Milwaukee reported.
Weiss said the district will continue to offer counseling and extra supports for students while investigators do their work. Around campus, parents and staff have expressed a mix of relief that arrests were made and frustration that there have now been two such cases in as many days.
A tense week for Kenosha schools
The school-related arrests come on the heels of a deadly shooting downtown last week that left a Bradford student dead and two other teens wounded near Library Park, an incident that has reverberated across the district. Reporters noted a Bradford student was killed in that shooting, which has only heightened unease among families and staff.
State rules on juvenile records limit what officials can share publicly about suspects and court proceedings, a constraint that can make already anxious parents feel even more in the dark, as the AP has previously noted in coverage of youth cases.
What happens next
Police say their investigation is ongoing and that criminal charges are expected in the latest Bradford arrest, though they did not release the student's name because of his age. School officials and officers are urging anyone with information to contact the Kenosha Police Department as detectives continue to follow up on leads.
District leaders say they will keep reviewing campus security procedures while trying to preserve something that at times feels increasingly fragile this school year: a sense of normal routine for students and staff.
