HAMDEN, Conn. — Students and staff at Hamden High School were joined by an increased presence of police around the building on Wednesday after a student was arrested for allegedly bringing a loaded gun to school.
At school, students were still reeling from the news.
“Basically, we were chilling, seventh period and then all we hear is that we’re going to be on lockdown, and then next thing we know everyone starts saying, ‘Oh, they had a gun,'" said student Juan Mogrovejo.
“It was kind of scary, 'cause you know there’s been a lot of school shootings happening," said a student named Markus.
According to the school district, Hamden High School administration was given information about the possibility that a student on campus may have been in possession of a gun over the weekend.
The superintendent said the administration immediately followed up on the information, and the student in question was escorted by Hamden security to the main office where the student was met by the School Resource Officer (SRO).
As a precautionary measure, the school implemented its “Stay-in-Place” procedure.
Hamden Police said officers on scene were trained in crisis intervention and used de-escalation techniques to help diffuse the situation when the student became uncooperative. The student ultimately complied with police and was taken into police custody without incident. A loaded .45 caliber handgun was recovered in the student’s backpack.
“17-year-olds shouldn’t be allowed to have guns and how they had access to that, I don’t know, but it’s scary to have my daughter in a school where guns are," said parent Avi Kamrat.
Kamrat added that while he shared those feelings of concern with students, he is not concerned about his daughter's safety following the incident.
“I feel like the school’s a safe place and the chance of something really horrible happening is still really small," said Kamrat.
The 17-year-old juvenile from Hamden was charged with Carrying a Pistol without a Permit, Possession of a Weapon on School Grounds, Reckless Endangerment 2nd Degree and Breach of Peace 2nd Degree.
An Order to Detain was approved by the courts for the juvenile, and he or she was taken to Juvenile Detention in Bridgeport.
Angelo Bavaro is an anchor and reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at abavaro@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
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