Clark County School District Police arrested a juvenile this week after a firearm was recovered at Sierra Vista High School in the west valley, officials said. School administrators reported a weapon on campus Thursday, and Principal Jessica Lovell said in an email that no students or staff were directly threatened during the incident.
As reported by KSNV, CCSD Police responded to the campus Thursday and recovered the firearm before taking the juvenile into custody. Sierra Vista principal Jessica Lovell emailed families about the incident, telling them there were no direct threats to students or staff.
Separate earlier incidents at Sierra Vista involved a BB gun, a loaded handgun and a loaded .45-caliber gun: News 3 Las Vegas reported the BB-gun incident on August 11, 2022; KTNV covered a loaded-handgun incident in 2017; and 8 News Now reported a loaded .45-caliber gun found during a probation check in August 2018.
Principal Urges Families to Talk Safety at Home
In her email, Lovell said weapons are not tolerated on school campuses and asked students to report any possible safety issue to an adult. She also advised parents to discuss school safety with their children and pointed families toward SafeVoice, the state's anonymous tipline, which can be reached at 1-833-216-SAFE (7233). KSNV noted it had not yet heard back from the district with further comment, and described the story as developing.
CCSD Regulation 5141.1 requires that a general-education student found to have possessed a firearm or dangerous weapon be recommended for expulsion. For limited expulsion, the regulation includes a one-year trial-enrollment requirement. The regulation also allows a student who violates the law to be referred to the appropriate law enforcement agency.
Part of a Larger Pattern Across CCSD Campuses
Part of a Larger Pattern Across CCSD Campuses During the 2023–24 school year, Clark County School District Police seized 42 firearms, with 22 recovered on campus and 20 off campus, according to 8 News Now. The same report said CCSD police confiscated 131 knives that school year and seized 49 firearms the year before.
Nevada lawmakers heard testimony on the issue earlier this year, when FOX5 Vegas reported that police had found 16 juveniles with firearms on school property that school year, and that more than half of firearms confiscated in schools had a gang nexus. CCSD Police told lawmakers that protection is typically the number one reason students bring guns to campus, though bullying is also cited, and that officers interview every student found with a weapon on campus.
Other recent arrests illustrate how the district has handled similar incidents. A juvenile was arrested after staff found a gun at Desert Oasis High School, where administration recovered the firearm from a student on campus and CCSD Police responded; officials said there were no threats to students or staff in that case either, per News 3 Las Vegas. The outlet also reported that a student at Canarelli Middle School was arrested for having a gun, which automatically leads to expulsion under district policy. Separately, expulsions across CCSD have climbed in recent years, with 1,434 recorded in the 2022-2023 school year compared with 1,402 in 2018-2019, according to 8 News Now.
