What started as an anonymous tip on Tuesday ended with a 16-year-old West Point High School student in handcuffs, after staff and Avondale police said they found an unloaded gun tucked inside the teen’s backpack. Officials emphasized there was no indication the weapon was being used to target any specific students or staff.
School staff notified authorities after receiving the anonymous tip, and officers recovered the unloaded firearm during a search of the student’s backpack. The juvenile was taken to a detention center and faces a charge of misconduct involving weapons, authorities told 12News. Police said the investigation is ongoing.
West Point campus and students
West Point High School, part of the Tolleson Union High School District, enrolls roughly 2,800 students on its West Valley campus, according to West Point High School. The school lists its address as 11620 W. Encanto Blvd. in Avondale.
What the charge means
Under Arizona law, bringing a deadly weapon onto school grounds falls under the state’s misconduct-involving-weapons statute, which lays out penalties that vary depending on the circumstances. The statute notes that possession of a weapon on school property is typically treated as a class 1 misdemeanor unless it is connected to other crimes; juveniles are generally handled through the juvenile court system, per the Arizona Revised Statutes.
Local pattern
Weapons cases on or near school grounds are not entirely new in the West Valley. Avondale officers previously arrested two students after they were seen waving a gun outside La Joya Community High School, according to ABC15, and administrators and school resource officers have stepped in before incidents escalated, local coverage shows, per AZFamily.
In the latest West Point case, Avondale police reiterated that no specific threats were identified and that the investigation remains active, officials told 12News. The juvenile was booked into a juvenile detention center and faces a weapons-misconduct charge as detectives work to determine how the student obtained the firearm.
