Police: Fairfield High student arrested after being found with loaded gun on campus
FAIRFIELD — A Fairfield High School student was arrested after he was found with a loaded gun on campus, police said Wednesday.
It happened at around noon. The Fairfield Police Department said campus staff was searching for a missing phone by checking students' backpacks before they were released. During this search, the student, who is in custody at the Solano County Juvenile Hall Detention Facility, asked a staff member to go outside, away from his classmates.
When the student was outside, he told the staff member he had a loaded Glock pistol and an extended magazine in his backpack. The student then gave it to the staff member without incident, according to Fairfield High School Principal Rebecca Campion.
"[The student] didn't want people to see that they had that. So they handed it over to the staff, and it just speaks to the relationship that our staff has with our students, and that trust that we work to build," said Campion.
The student was arrested by a school resource officer and has since been booked into the Solano County Juvenile Hall Detention Facility. He faces several weapons-related charges: having a firearm in public/school felony; carrying a concealed weapon felony; carrying an unregistered loaded firearm felony.
There were no reports of the firearm being used, and no other weapons were found during the search. The school's safety team was immediately notified and SROs on all high school and middle school campuses in the district stepped in as backup, if needed, according to Campion.
Campion shared that school administrators spoke to the student, whose grade level and age have not been released: "We had conversations with the student as to why this may have occurred, and I can. I can definitely say that there there was remorse. But I'm not going to get into details of what a student told me."
In a message to families, Campion told CBS13: "If we are facing safety concerns outside of school, our staff can still help. We want them to know that we are here and that we can help, and if they come to us with information because they are scared, we want to help and support them. We don't want them ever to feel like they are on their own."
A spokesperson for the Fairfield Police Department told CBS13 in an email that the partnership with school and law enforcement is crucial:
"We are truly grateful for our invaluable collaboration with Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District. SROs play a vital role in school/community safety, but also equally as important, they foster/build relationships with our youth and are often viewed as mentors. Each school year we have one SRO at each of our high schools and one at each of our junior high schools. "
A spokesperson for the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District released the following statement Wednesday afternoon:
"Today a Fairfield High School student brought a firearm to campus. Staff took immediate action by working with our School Resource Officer and the Fairfield Police Department to conduct a thorough investigation. The student responsible has been identified and the firearm has been safely removed from our campus. We appreciate the support of the Fairfield Police Department and are grateful for their commitment to the safety of our students and community."
The Fairfield student's arrest happened fewer than 24 hours after a gunman opened fire at Morgan State University in Baltimore. Five people, including four students, were shot on campus. A search for a suspect or suspects in that shooting remained ongoing Wednesday.
Those five people who were shot had injuries that were not life-threatening.
