Police confront girls about ‘gun’

Michael Miller

One girl was transferred and another suspended from Ensign

Intermediate School last week after police found them in possession

of a replica gun near school grounds.

Sgt. Steve Shulman said police were still not sure if the girls

had brought the object into the school, or if they had brandished it

in front of other students.

On March 8, a parent contacted the police relaying a report from a

student that the girls had brought the item on campus, and police

located the girls on Coral Place and Irvine Avenue, near the school,

shortly before 5 p.m.

Once confronted by police, the girls admitted to carrying the fake

gun, which one had brought from home and the other concealed in her

backpack. According to Shulman and school resource officer Andy

Halpin, officers confiscated the gun and sent the girls home, then

contacted Ensign officials the following morning.

“We’re looking into it still,” Shulman said. “We’re investigating

through our school resource officer to see if there was any criminal

violation. Apparently, the kids had talked to other kids about having

brought the gun to school. Even if they were contacted off school

grounds, their route to and from school is relevant. Our preliminary

investigation indicates that they were on campus with the replica

gun.”

The object, Shulman said, was not a functional pellet or BB gun,

but merely a realistic-looking model of a metal pistol. Police have

not yet filed a report on the incident and are talking to students

and administrators to determine if anyone else saw the mock gun on

campus that day.

Jane Garland, spokeswoman for the Newport-Mesa Unified School

District, said that bringing fake weapons to school is an act

punishable by suspension, whereas bringing an authentic weapon may

result in expulsion or jail. She added that such incidents were

extremely rare in the district.

The girl who brought the item to school was transferred from

Ensign, while the one who carried it in her backpack received a

suspension of several days.

Ensign principal Ed Wong said the school did not hear about the

event until the police contacted them the following morning.

“I was not aware of it until after the fact,” Wong said. “We kind

of found out about it through the back door.”

Wong added that word of the gun incident had only spread among a

small group, and that students are prompt to report most

disturbances at the school.

“The kids here are pretty good,” he said. “If they sense that

something bad is going to happen, if there’s going to be a fight

after school, they’ll tell us.”

Shulman and Halpin said that no charges had been filed against the

girls and that police were still investigating the incident to decide

whether it constituted a criminal act.

“Weapons of any type are not allowed on campus,” Shulman stated.

“Kids can’t bring pocket knives, fake guns, anything that could be

construed as a weapon, whether real or not. So we say to parents,

‘Check what your kids are bringing to school other than books or

lunch.’”

* MICHAEL MILLER covers education and may be reached at (714)

966-4617 or by e-mail at [email protected].