Days after schools in Southlake and Dallas faced campus threats, a third North Texas school is investigating a student found with a weapon.
Fort Worth Police conducted a search for a student at Arlington Heights High School on Tuesday following “reports of suspicious activity,” Principal Justin Barrett said in an email to parents.
Officer Daniel Segura told KERA school staff and a school resource officer noticed the smell of marijuana in one of the restrooms, where they made contact with a 16-year-old male.
Barrett said officers found a weapon during the search and the student was immediately arrested.
“The local police are actively investigating the situation and have assured us that there is no ongoing threat to the safety of our students and staff,” Barrett said.
The school did not specify what the weapon was, but Segura confirmed it was a firearm.
All school activities are continuing as scheduled.
This is the third campus threat since the school year began earlier this month.
“Our kids, our teachers, our school staff should be safe in school,” said Nicole Golden, executive director for anti-gun violence group Texas Gun Sense. “And instead, they fear gun violence on the very beginning of the school year.”
Golden said situations like these should be a catalyst for stricter gun laws in Texas and a requirement that every parent and guardian knows how and why to safely store a firearm.
“Firearms [are] a leading cause of death for children and teens in the U.S. and in our state,” Golden said. “Texas has experienced some of the most high profile, mass shootings and school shootings in recent years.”
The 2022 mass shooting in Uvalde prompted state lawmakers to increase school safety requirements, including armed security in every school and panic buttons in classrooms. Another law allows schools to use school safety funds to hire and train staff who would help with mental health support to students.
President Joe Biden also passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act a month after the shooting, requiring for stricter firearm background checks and providing more resources to schools about safety and mental health. It was the first national gun safety bill passed in nearly three decades.
Penelope Rivera is KERA’s news intern. Got a tip? Email Penelope at privera@kera.org.
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