Denver officers find gun in East High student's bag after he was placed in handcuffs, school says
A student at East High School in Denver was placed in handcuffs after a gun was found in his bag, according to Denver Public Schools. The incident happened on Thursday morning at the school located near Denver's City Park.
According to an email from East High School, staff received a report that a student had a gun on school property on Thursday morning.
The school said officers from the DPS Department of Safety entered the student's classroom to escort him to a private space. Officers said the student resisted and he was placed in handcuffs. Officers said they later found a gun in his bag.
A student told CBS Colorado that they were told to stay in their rooms during the incident.
According to an email from East High Principal Terita Walker, she reminded students and parents that it is never OK to bring weapons of any kind, real or fake, onto school property.
Denver police confirmed they detained a juvenile but would not release any additional information, like the age of the student.
A portion of the email reads, "We take all threats seriously and members of law enforcement investigate each instance. In order to maintain a safe environment, it is critical that students feel comfortable reporting to the appropriate adults if they hear about or see a weapon on our campus. That is what happened in this situation. A student shared their concern with a trusted adult which allowed officers from the DPS Department of Climate and Safety and Denver Police Department to act."
Walker also said that members of the DPS Crisis Team will help any students who are struggling with what happened on campus.
Denver police told CBS Colorado that there were no reports of any injuries at the school.
There were two shootings at East High School in 2023.
East High School student Luis Garcia was shot and killed in 2023 while in his car on City Park Esplanade, just outside of the school. Last year, his family sued the district under the Claire Davis School Safety Act, saying the district "failed to take all of the reasonable steps necessary to protect the school and its students from serious risk."
The judge overseeing the case dismissed the lawsuit earlier this summer because of where it happened, saying in one portion of the order, "the Court is not persuaded that these roads are "within the school facilities of East's property."
Former East High dean Wayne Mason was shot twice in the chest at "point-blank range" by the student who also shot dean Eric Sinclair multiple times on March 22, 2023. Both men survived and the 17-year-old student who fired the gun left campus and took his own life that same day.
The school has a student body of about 2,500 students that consists of grades 9th-12th.
