26 September 2023
Two Roseville Area High School students were found with guns in unrelated incidents Monday, according to charges filed Tuesday.
One case involved a gun with an extended magazine and no serial number, while the other involved a stolen gun and recent fights, court documents said.
“While this is scary for all of us – adults and students – I have comfort in the work we are doing every day to reduce risk,” Principal Jen Wilson wrote in a message to the school’s families.
On Monday morning, school staff found a .22-caliber handgun in a 17-year-old student’s backpack. Staff said the teen “had an ongoing disagreement with another student at the school and that fights had been reported off and on school property,” according to a juvenile petition. “The fight on school property had been broken up by staff and the participants separated.”
Staff was “working to de-escalate a conflict among a very small group of students,” Wilson wrote. They were alerted about a possible gun on a student who was already with staff and separated from peers.
School staff decided to search all the students involved in the fight for weapons. They reported that the 17-year-old “became wide eyed and frozen when informed he would be searched,” the petition said.
The gun had a round in the chamber and the magazine was empty. The serial number was obscured, but an officer was able to use a magnifying glass to determine the number. The gun had been reported stolen from McLeod County, Minnesota.
The Ramsey County attorney’s office charged the teen with possession of a gun by a person under age 18.
Ran out of school
On Monday afternoon, school staff reported that a 16-year-old was found vaping in a restroom with another student. They were escorted to another room and told they’d be searched for contraband. Staff reported to police they became concerned the 16-year-old was armed “because he kept reaching and digging in the front of his waistband,” according to a juvenile petition.
Staff unlocked the door to release the first student after a search and the 16-year-old ran out of the room.
“Multiple staff members chased (the student) around the school for several minutes,” the petition said. “A staff member chased (the student) as he exited the school and entered a wooded area. The staff member stated that he observed (the student) reach into his waistband, remove an item, place it on the ground, and attempt to cover it up.”
The student left the woods and stopped running from staff. The staff member found a handgun at the spot where the student had placed an item, and turned it over to police, the petition said.
The 9mm handgun didn’t have a serial number. The extended magazine had 14 rounds of ammunition, along with one round in the chamber.
Prosecutors charged the 16-year-old with possession of a gun by a person under age 18 and possession of a gun with no serial number.
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