WATERBURY, Conn. — Friday marks the second day in a row police responded to weapons scares at Waterbury high schools.
On Friday, police were called to Kennedy High after a student from another school—believed to be armed—gained entry inside. No weapons were found.
On Thursday, Crosby High School was placed in lockdown after police recovered a loaded .22 caliber pistol inside a student’s backpack. An 18-year-old student is now behind bars with bail set at $250 thousand.
Lashawn Nance, 18, wore a mask while facing a judge at Waterbury Superior Court Friday. He’s facing gun charges including gun theft and risk of injury.
“The gun was not in a safety mode when it was found,” a prosecutor said. “The allegations in this report are extremely concerning, including the fact that the firearm found was stolen from Pennsylvania.”
According to court documents Nance said, “I almost shot myself in the leg” while looking through his backpack Thursday morning in his first-period class. But later said “Oh nothing” when students sitting nearby asked follow-up questions. A student later told a teacher who told the school resource officer.
"He’s a good student. His first time ever allegedly being in trouble,” a public defender said in court.
Crosby High School was placed in lockdown and police pulled Nance out of his third-period class and brought him to the office where court documents state he denied being in possession of a weapon.
Nance told the officer a friend asked him to “hold the gun” over “beef” with some students at Crosby. Nance was handcuffed in the office after police searched his backpack and found a loaded .22 caliber pistol stolen from Pennsylvania in 2019. The gun’s safety switch was not on.
Friday morning police called to Kennedy High after a student from Wilby High—believed to be armed-- gained entry to the school. No weapons were found.
Freshman Truth Ramirez was so unnerved by the incident he went home early.
“Being in the middle of gym which is supposed to be the fun class, I came straight from gym to the lockdown,” he said. “So for me, that’s supposed to be the period where you have fun. You’re just relaxing with your friends then all of a sudden something like this happening. Now you’re in a lockdown and you have to be careful because you don’t know what’s going on. And to know that there was a genuine threat. Like, this isn’t a drill. To find that out. It’s nerve-wracking.”
“It’s chaos, it’s madness,” Ramirez added.
“I can’t believe that at this point we’re still having discussions about bringing weapons into school because you would think our lawmakers would have done something to prevent this from happening.”
Nance’s parents were in court for his arraignment but declined to comment on the matter. Nance is behind bars with bail set at $250 thousand dollars. He’s due back in court on May 25.
Samaia Hernandez is a reporter for FOX61 News. She can be reached at shernandez@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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