Mansfield ISD high school student arrested after loaded weapon found in backpack, officials say
MANSFIELD — A Mansfield ISD student was arrested after a gun was found in his backpack on Friday morning, officials said. He now faces a second-degree felony charge of possessing a weapon in a place where it's prohibited.
Legacy High School Principal Stephanie Bonneau informed parents via email about the incident involving a student carrying a firearm on campus.
"Your student's safety is a top priority, and it is important we keep our families aware of what is happening on our campus," the email said.
During morning arrival, the Evolv weapons detection system alerted staff to a weapon in a student's backpack. The system is an AI-powered security screening technology that scans individuals for concealed weapons using sensors and machine learning, allowing for high-throughput, non-intrusive threat detection.
The administrator who oversees the screening process searched the backpack and found a loaded firearm, Bonneau said.
Mansfield ISD police arrested the student and removed him from campus, the email said. The student will face disciplinary actions under the MISD Code of Conduct.
The email confirmed no indication of a specific threat against a student or staff member.
"We are grateful that our students and staff are safe and that the training and equipment we have invested in as a district worked," the district said in a statement to CBS News Texas.
Britney Fortner, MISD director of safety, security, and threat management, said the Evolv system used the latest high-tech security features to alert staff of a potential weapons issue.
"It's using artificial intelligence to identify properties of weapons that can cause harm. It's looking for shape, size, density, material of specific items," Fortner said.
The technology is also used at Mansfield ISD's football complexes and performing arts center.
"Evolv is extremely important. It's just one of the many layers of our security process here in Mansfield ISD," Fortner said. "I'm very thankful that we had this layer in place to catch this item of concern. It's something that's fairly new to me, and we've had it for about 18 months in our high school campuses."
AI in North Texas schools
Mansfield ISD started using the Evolv Express metal detector system, which employs artificial intelligence to detect properties found in weapons, in 2023.
The system costs approximately $800,000 annually for 20 units.
"With metal detectors, it takes a lot of time, a lot of manpower to search through everything metal that's on a person," Britney Fortner, the district's director of safety and security, previously told CBS News Texas. "It's looking for those specific concerns, and it's identifying the location of where we need to search, so students can keep walking through if they don't have anything of concern on them."
