Santa Cruz Student, 14, Cited For Having Replica Handguns In Backpack

A 14-year-old Santa Cruz high school student was cited Thursday for bringing two replica firearms on campus, two weeks after a middle school student bought a real loaded handgun to school, a police official said.

The freshman boy was found carrying the two realistic faux handguns in a backpack to Harbor High School and the guns were missing the legally-required orange safety tips at the end of the barrels, police Deputy Chief Steve Clark said.

Both objects were actually bb guns, one a replica of a Walther PPK semi-automatic handgun and the other a replica Colt .25 caliber semi-automatic pistol, Clark said.

Another student at Harbor told school staff about the guns and the staff notified police, Clark said.

Police cited the boy for a misdemeanor violation of bringing a bb gun to a school campus and released him to his father, according to Clark. Officers are investigating why the student decided to take the two replica weapons with him to school, he said.

On Oct. 9, police arrested a 13-year-old boy after staffers at Mission Hill Middle School in Santa Cruz found a stolen, fully-loaded .38 caliber handgun, with a bullet in the chamber, in the boy’s backpack on campus.

The student was booked into Santa Cruz Juvenile Hall on suspicion of possessing a firearm on school grounds and possessing a stolen handgun, police said.

The boy had reportedly taken the gun to campus the day before his arrest, according to police.

The story on the Santa Cruz area middle-schooler, who also recently brought a weapon to school, is here: Santa Cruz Middle-Schooler Brings Stolen AND Fully Loaded Gun To School

--Bay City News