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Apr. 19, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Handgun sighting triggers Desert Pines lockdown

Worried parents rush to high school after fight in which gun was flashed

By ANTONIO PLANAS and DAVID KIHARA
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Desert Pines High School students leave the school on Wednesday after a lockdown ordered when a man with a gun was seen on campus.

Lt. Ken Young of the Clark County School District police speaks to the media outside of Desert Pines High School while it was locked down after a gun sighting on campus Wednesday.
Photos by Ronda Churchill.

With images of the massacre at Virginia Tech fresh in their minds, students and parents at Desert Pines High School were sent into a panic on Tuesday after an 18-year-old man flashed a handgun on campus.

Even though no one was hurt, many assumed the worst when the school, at 3800 Harris Ave., near Pecos Road and Washington Avenue, was placed on lockdown.

"You watch TV and see what happened in Virginia and think, 'That's over there.' Well, it's here too," said Carrie Luna, who was waiting at the school to pick up her ninth-grade son, Obie.

Maria Lopez, who was anxiously waiting for her son and daughter to be let out of school, echoed Luna.

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"Because of what happened in Virginia, everyone is worried about their children," Lopez said in Spanish.

The incident started about 11 a.m., when several young men, who aren't current Desert Pines students, walked into the school's courtyard, authorities said.

The men got into an argument with a Desert Pines student, and dozens of students rushed toward them to watch the fight, said Lt. Ken Young of the Clark County School District police.

"Kids always run towards the action," said Young.

One student who saw the fight, 15-year-old Stephanie Caceres, said six men were fighting with the Desert Pines student.

She played video of the fight captured on her cell phone. The blurry images show a group of men jumping around, surrounded by at least 50 students in the school's courtyard. No gun is visible in the footage.

"I wasn't scared. I was excited," said Caceres.

School police said one of the men brandished a weapon during the fight.

Desert Pines Principal Timothy Stephens said the man may have used the gun to threaten a student.

School security and police went to break up the fight, but the suspects fled as they approached.

Authorities and several students said the fight might have been gang related.

After authorities placed the school on lockdown, students were kept in their classrooms or taken to the school's gymnasium to wait out the threat, students said.

Clark County School District officials have found 38 guns on campuses this school year. That number includes BB and pellet guns, said Young.

Luz Rodriguez, a 15-year-old 10th grader, said school officials ushered her and her classmates out of a portable building at about 11:20 a.m. and into the school's gymnasium.

A school official gave them an ominous warning as they walked briskly from the portable to the gym, she said.

"They just told us to walk like we had to save our lives," she said outside the school on Wednesday.

The lockdown was lifted about 2 p.m.

The hours-long lockdown made parents uneasy. Several complained that they weren't given any information, causing them to worry more.

"They just locked them down. They don't let you take them out. They don't tell you do anything," said Maritza Payan, a mother of two Desert Pines students.

She called the school several times seeking answers, but reached the school's voice mail system.

Many parents said they learned of the incident when their kids called them using cell phones.

Jaime Lea, a district spokeswoman, said the district doesn't have a policy to notify parents when a school is placed on lockdown. She said, however, that the district would place information on its Web site, www.ccsd.net, if an incident affects a lot of parents and students.

About 4 p.m., police arrested two 18-year-old men at a nearby apartment complex in connection with the incident. Police took Las Vegas teens Terrence Brown and Emanual Goins into custody and booked them into the county jail on charges of loitering with a weapon and possession of a dangerous weapon, said Young.

Police recovered two 9 mm handguns in the apartment where the two suspects were found, he said.

Young said police response to the incident wasn't increased because of the shootings at Virginia Tech.

Police always respond when a gun is reported on campus, he said.

"Anytime we have a gun anywhere, we're responsible," he said.

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Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: Timothy D. Stephens wrote on April 19, 2007 04:52 PM: Antonio, I am concerned about your article. You had a chance to write about a serious security concern of mine. If you remember I informed about the necessity for Standard School Attire and how easy it was to spot the intruders as they were running through Mountain View, due to the fact that MV students wear uniforms. In fact it was fairly easy to spot those same students from over two hundred yards when on the campus of Mountain View, as opposed to trying to spot them within ten-feet on the campus of Desert Pines High School. In the future I request that you not only report the incident but also report/advise on how the stakeholders of Desert Pines High School can help if similar incidents occur in the future. Doc wrote on April 19, 2007 03:16 PM: Find a way to get your kids out of that cesspool we call public schools. Alan wrote on April 19, 2007 12:49 PM: Police Officers in the Halls A key deterrent to preventing violence in our schools is to put police officers or undercovers in the halls. We know that a terrorist, whether he is a school shooter or an international terrorist, is not looking for a fair fight, because if he were, he would go to a police station where there are lots of armed officers perfectly willing to oblige him. The same is true of the corrections community. We take the distilled essence of all the people no one else in America wants to live with, we pack them all in one place and we make our corrections officers live with them every day. These officers live in an environment that makes the post office look like nirvana, but they never go “postal.” No one ever tries to shoot their fellow corrections employees, and the obvious reason is because of all those other officers in the towers armed with heavy-duty firepower. GET INVOLVED AND VOTE FOR YOUR LEGISLATORS TO ACT FASTER FOR YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN NOT ENOUGH IS BEING DONE IN THIS COUNTRY AND NOT ENOUGH PEOPLE ARE VOTING. NOT ENOUGH PEOPLE ARE APPLYING FOR JOBS TO KEEP US SAFE FOR GANGS AND DOPE DEALERS TO OUTRUN OUR LAW OFFICIALS BY THE THOUSANDS IS RIDICULOUS Alan wrote on April 19, 2007 04:24 AM: WE MUST STOP THE VIOLENCE AND PUT THE GUNS AND DOPE DOWN ITS TIME TO WAKE UP LAS VEGAS THERE IS HELP AND WE HAVE A CRUSADE TO FULFILL PROPOSE NEW LEGISLATION FOR MORE HELP FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT AND THE PUBLIC PUT MORE RESTRICTIONS ON WEAPONS STIFFEN PENALTIES FOR ILLEGAL ACTS Funds are needed for orgs too For those businesses and entertainers that get involved in our org Stop The Violence Use Your Talents and donates $1000 or more that refers another will get 15% off their donation Meaning $150 or more to get their website and business on 40,000 flyers and banner to be promoted nationwide Stop The Violence Use Your Talents© is a not for profit corporation created to expose our talents to bring awareness of the violence in our communities NO OBLIGATION IS REQUIRED http://myspace.com/stoptheviolencemusic http://www.defensefoundationforchildren.com John O'Neill wrote on April 19, 2007 03:18 AM: "...Several complained that they weren't given any information, causing them to worry more." Of course several people complained: because we are a nation of weak kneed wimps. Instaed of thanking the district officials for erring on the side of caution and making the safety of the kids a priority, they complain that they did not get a telephone call, causing them to worry. What? It's official; I live in crazy world. As for me CCSD; you had better keep my kids safe and I'll handle a little worry while you do your job.