The Antelope Valley Times

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Student arrested for bringing loaded pistol to school

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Desert Pathways HS exteriorQUARTZ HILL – A 15-year-old student was arrested Thursday morning for bringing a loaded firearm on to a local high school campus, authorities said.

The incident was reported around 7:30 a.m. at Desert Pathways High School at 6300 West Avenue L, according to Sgt. C. Thomas of the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station.

The school’s principal received information that a student was on campus and possibly armed with a loaded pistol, Thomas stated.

The principal brought the student into his office, conducted a search, and located a loaded .45 caliber pistol, Thomas stated.

The pistol was originally concealed in the student’s waistband and apparently fell down the student’s pant leg, according to Thomas.

The principal recovered the firearm and held it pending a deputy’s arrival.

The student told the responding deputy he had the firearm for protection when traveling to and from school, Thomas said.

There were no indicated threats toward staff or students.

The student was arrested for possession of a loaded firearm on school grounds and transported to Lancaster Sheriff’s Station.

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Filed Under: Crime/ Safety

37 comments for "Student arrested for bringing loaded pistol to school"

  1. I myself am dealing with a situation my son was continuesly being bullied at his school I went several times about this he told the school staff and nothing is being done my son tried to comitt suicide due to the exsisting problem the palmdale Lancaster school district is full of bs and all the sheriff’s do is make arrest and it ends there but I am going to take this to the supreme court if necessary

  2. “The school’s principal received information that a student was on campus and possibly armed with a loaded pistol, Thomas stated.”

    I would like to thank the individual who passed on that information:)

  3. It’s long past time to make these kids pass through metal detectors before entering school grounds. This kid is obviously another shining example of the class of people who are overtaking the AV. Lock this punk gangbanger up and throw away the key. I want my kids safe in school.

  4. No matter how many laws are passed outlawing hand guns the criminals will always have them, we have laws against drugs and people entering the country illegally, but you think we could stop importation of hand guns?

  5. I have lived out here for my entire life and I have never heard of that High school. When they said this all happened in Quartz Hill, I assumed he went I Quartz Hill High School. Is that school like Desert Winds in Lancaster? You know, one of those schools for troubled kids. They usual get sent to Desert Winds when they have been expelled from their high school district.

    • Yes it is a school that is directly behind Quartz Hill and it is just like Desert Winds. I only know this because my nephew went there. I didn’t know it existed either until then.

      • I was wondering what school that was. I too thought, initally, they meant Quartz Hill High. Desert Pathways does sound like Continuation High School, however, it is not strictly troubled kids. I went to Desert Winds, behind AV and im not, nor was troubled. I just let my stubborness take control at times lol. I know the school system may have changed now, but I had good grades in regards to my assignments, however, so many tardies counted as an absent, and one particular class, i was always late too. That cause me to have so many absences which affected my overall grade. When I violated the, the, dress code, they took all that into consideration, and chose to expell me. Went to Phoenix (Alt Ed school), then Desert Winds, then graduated from Desert Sands Charter school. To make up for it, I will be graduating in two months with a BA in Criminal Justice. I dont consider myself to have been troubled. (WOW, I didnt realize I just shared a piece of my life with you guys! hahahaha WE’RE MARRIED NOW!!) Really, that was not my intent, and I would delete it, but that took me a little time to type that. lol..

        • very sad to refer to these children as bad or troubled some go there because they do better in a smaller class environment, and many other reasons not associated to behaviors. Apparently this young person had trouble with something or someone and he chose the wrong solution. It’s even more sad there wasn’t an adult there for him to turn to .

        • congratulations for turning your life around,probably your parents and teachers felt differently though.
          glad you are doing well,thanks for sharing ;)

      • This school is nothing like Desert Winds, it is a school that is strictly for Special Ed. And the student has to have a diagnosed mental illness. The students come in on small busses from all over the entire Antelope Valley. The campus does not have any security guards, no metal detectors…. Nothing. The entrance looks like crap because the district refuse to put any money into it and school… You have to drive down a makeshift dirt road just to get there….

        • It is not that the students necessarily have a mental illness, they may have a learning disability which IS NOT MENTAL ILLNESS. I am surprised that the principal spoke to the student who may have had a weapon on his person. The principal must have known the student well enough to trust that he would not react by drawing that gun. I hope it is not true that they have no security. ALL SCHOOLS need security, not only due to students within the school, but obviously to protect them from the people outside of the school. It is unfortunate that the school areas are unpaved, and these Charter Schools are getting funding. No wonder why these children feel so discarded. If a child that feels like they are being ‘dumped off’ somewhere that looks like that, how do we expect for them to even begin to feel valued and carry themselves as such? The environment of learning is tantamount to the beginnings of positive change. I hope the community attends district board meetings to speak out about this. No school should look like that. Have you visited any of the charter schools lately? They don’t look like that….sad.

          • Well, hate to break it to you, they do have a mental illness, I know because I worked there. The school has mental health staff on site from an outside organization. The campus is strictly for Emotional Disturbed and many more other serious mental illnesses. There is no security, and all schools in this valley do not have a deputy on campus until after 8:00AM or later as they all are in a briefing at the Lancaster station in the morning before coming to the assigned school they work at…. But really do love reading comments on news sites when now I am positive people comment on things and have absolutly no idea what happened…. And by the way, it is not a Charter school, but it does run under a Charter school for only there summer school session last summer and this summer….

  6. We must abolish all handguns in this country. Citizens could have shotguns and rifles for home protection and hunting. Peace Officers and the military would be allowed handguns. 12,000 people a year die from gun violence in this country plus who knows how many more are robbed, raped, maimed, etc., by bad guys with guns. Also, start enforcing the death penalty laws in California. We have 720 plus felons on death row in California.

    • What do you mean by “abolish”? You mean that law abiding citizens must turn them all in?? Good luck with that. Why are handguns all of a sudden a problem? I thought it was those mean looking “assault rifles”. Any other bright ideas???

      • We are the most violent country in the world. No other civilized country allows people to own handguns. The only way we can stop this insanity is to remove handguns from our society. People could still have rifles and shotguns for protection. If a person enters a 7-11 with a rifle, you would know he is not there for a Slurpee. If we enforced our laws, this person would get the needle if he used the rifle on the clerk in the 7-ll. Even better in poetic justice, he would be executed by a a firing squad.

        • Uhhhhhh…stats, please. What does “most violent” mean? We have the most UFC fights? Anyway, why does it matter how the gun is fired…from the shoulder or the hand? Funny how gun scared-e-cats don’t know anything about guns.

        • What are you going to do when some thug who is sweating profusely enters a store with a handgun and points it at you and the clerk? You won’t have a handgun cause if you do you are caring it illegally like the thug. Call the sheriff? You expect him to get his ass shot off protecting you because you believe in handguns?

          • @Michael Rives, That is perhaps the dumbest comment I have ever read, certainly the dumbest in a long time. In fact we are all a little dumber for having read it.

            First there are dozens of “civilized countries” that allow handgun ownership. Switzerland requires that all able-bodied male citizens keep fully automatic firearms at home and they have one of the lowest crime rates in the world. The Countries with the highest rates of gun ownership have the lowest crime rate. You overlook the fact that guns including hand guns are used in self defense and home protection an estimated 2.5 million times each year in the USA.

            The only part of your comments I can agree with is that we need tougher laws and follow through we you break the law.

          • Blow a hole in the counter with the shot gun that’s under the table..
            Han fired first!
            Movies may be able to rewrite history, but you can’t un-invent something like a hand gun.
            Maybe it can become obsolete from better technology like a VCR, but you can’t just pull out your little flashy thing (Neuralyzer) and erase the memory of hand guns.

          • Maybe we need more liberal CCW laws here like most states have. Check Florida stats before and after they changed their CCW laws. The liberals were screaming the state would turn into a battle zone, guess what it did not happen. Some crimes dropped after the law was changed.

            Do you expect criminals to just turn in their guns so they will not be breaking the law? You sound like one of the people who supported banning open carry of firearms in California even though not one crime against another person could be traced to it.

        • “We are the most violent country in the world.” Funny, I thought Mexico was higher up on the list than us. They have very strict guns laws there. I guess that is why Mexico is so safe.

    • Give me a break! Heaven forbid we actually hold the person that brought the gun to school responsible for his actions. The gun didn’t just walk itself over to the school. And I just LOVE when people throw around figures like over 12000 people died as a result of gun violence last year to prove their point that guns are bad.Really? While there are innocent people that have died by the use of a gun, that figure also includes the rapist that went into a women’s home and found out that she was not going to be raped, the homeowner that shot the burgler when he broke in while the family was sleeping. Also do you really think that abolishing handguns will mean that the criminals will abide by that law? Again, give me a break!

    • Sounds like you’ve been watching too much Joe Biden or Obama crying on TV(political).Ever hear of sawed off shotguns or long jackets .Easy to conceal a weapon there. Thank god the .45 was too heavy to stay in his waistband.

    • if we’re going to throw out sections of the Constitution that is a slippery slope. Those who give up liberty for security deserve neither BF. if we give up freedom of speech we won’t have to read these ridiculous comments.

  7. REALLY? ARE YOU SURE THIS A SCHOOL? LOOKS MORE LIKE ONE OF THE MANY HALFWAY HOUSES AROUND THE AV! I MEAN JUST LOOK AT THE TUMBLEWEEDS!!

  8. Nice looking school entrance. Very prestigious, the tumble weeds and barbed wire fence inspires an air of dignity and decorum not usually seen around these parts.(sarcasm).

  9. Brave principal – he could have easily called the Sheriff to come and deal with the threat. But perhaps he knew the kid.

    From the story I can not tell if this is a 15 year old gangbanger who wants to pack some heat so he can get some respect. (stupid because it only takes one phone call to turn him in, which might be the case here)

    Or a kid who is being bullied and felt he had no other options due to the “no snitch” policy that is enforced by other kids.

    I guess we will see….

    • The principal IS a reserve deputy. And he handled it beautifully…no ruckus whatsoever….everything very calm throughout.