Teen brings loaded gun to Twin Cities high school and flees while being frisked, charges say

A student brought a loaded gun to his St. Paul high school and fled while being patted down by a staffer, according to charges filed Wednesday. Police captured him in a resident’s yard about a mile away.

The 16-year-old was arrested soon after the Tuesday incident and charged in Ramsey County District Court as a juvenile with two felonies: bringing a dangerous weapon on school property and being a minor in possession of a gun.

While the teen is named in the charging document, the Minnesota Star Tribune generally does not identify juveniles charged with a crime.

If the student arrived at 8:30 a.m., when the school day starts, the loaded weapon was in the building for roughly four hours before the teen fled.

Como Park Principal Diana Brown informed students’ families Tuesday night of the incident:

“There are serious consequences for students who bring weapons to school. We will follow our discipline procedures as outlined in the student rights and responsibilities handbook.

“I understand this news can be extremely upsetting, especially during the first weeks of school. I also want to thank our staff who followed our safety protocols during this incident.”

Shortly after 12:30 p.m., police were alerted to a report of a Como Park student with a gun. School staff told police that one student reported being shown the gun by the teenager.

A school staff member patted the student down near the front office and “felt the firearm,” the charges read. The student then ran from the building.

Officers found the student in an alley north of Lawson Avenue and east of Mackubin Street.

A resident told police that the student had been in the yard nearby in the 1000 block of Norton Street before he was arrested. Officers went to the home and found in the backyard the semiautomatic gun, which contained a magazine loaded with one round.

On Sept. 2, a 14-year-old student at St. Paul Johnson High School was arrested after bringing an unloaded gun on the first day of school. In a letter to parents, Principal Jamil Payton said the gun was discovered after school administrators received a tip that a student may have brought a weapon to class. No incident with the gun occurred, and nobody was injured.

In the aftermath of that shooting, Gov. Tim Walz announced that 20 state troopers and state Department of Natural Resources officers would provide additional security for Minneapolis schools and places of worship.

The St. Paul Police Department also provided additional security to all public and private schools in the city until Sept. 5.