Crime & Safety
Two Teens Arrested for Taking Weapons to Palo Alto High School
One teen tried to use a stun gun on another student off-campus. Another, arrested Monday, told police the carbon dioxide firing device in the student's backpack was inadvertently left there from last weekend's activities.
Palo Alto Police have arrested two students in separate cases for taking weapons to Palo Alto High School. Both were arrested without incident. There were no injuries.
The first case was last Friday, Feb. 8, when two students left campus together. Allegedly, one was supposed to sell marijuana to the other.
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“During that off-campus transaction, one student produced a stun gun and made two attempts to apply the stun gun to the chest of the victim student,” according to a written statement from Sgt. Kara Apple, Palo Alto Police department.
“The victim was able to move away and was never injured. The victim returned to campus and notified school administrators immediately. Administrators quickly located the suspect, escorted the suspect to the office, and notified police and the suspect’s parents.”
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Police found the stun gun in the student’s backpack. That student was arrested and released to the student's parents.
The second incident happened Monday, Feb. 11, when students notified school officials that another student had a homemade “gun” in a backpack. The weapon was charged by a carbon dioxide container that could only fire rubber corks, not bullets.
According to Sgt. Apple, “The suspect told police they (sic) had accidentally left the weapon in their backpack after playing with it over the weekend.”
Both students were arrested for possession of an illegal weapon on school grounds and released to the custody of their parents.
In addition, the school has taken disciplinary action against both students.
“We have a solid relationship with all of our schools, and we have trained extensively with them about how to handle incidents involving weapons on campus,” said Lieutenant Zach Perron of the Palo Alto Police Department.
“Everything in these cases worked like it should: The initial tips of weapons on campus came directly from other students, who did the right thing by notifying school staff right away, the school notified police immediately, and we worked collaboratively with school staff and parents to take appropriate action.”
Since both students are charged with misdemeanors, their identities will not be revealed by authorities.
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