Gun confiscated, freshman arrested

A freshman boy was arrested on suspicion of possession of an unloaded gun during sixth period on Thursday, March 10.

The boy was seen grabbing his waist suspiciously while playing basketball in teacher Marie Gray’s P.E. class, the administration reported.  A fellow student reported the unusual behavior to Gray, who then alerted a campus patroller.

The administration responded to the radio call at 2:15 p.m. An administrator confiscated the pistol and a sheriff’s deputy arrested the boy within ten minutes.

When staff members first responded, they did not know for certain the suspect was in possession of the gun, so they did not feel there was a need for a lock down, said Assistant

The student was immediately suspended and, because the incident involved the possession of a firearm, which is a felony, the administration was required to recommend his expulsion to the Castro Valley school board, said Steinecke.
At a later date, the school board will hold a hearing for the student and determine an appropriate punishment.

CVHS families received an auto-dialer phone message from Principal Mary Ann Valles that night regarding the incident.  Up until then, many students were unaware of the occurrence because the school was not put under lock down.

“At no time were staff or students in danger,” Valles told the school through the loudspeaker. “The student said he intended no harm to anyone at CVHS.”

While debriefing the situation with the sheriff’s office on Friday morning, the administration identified several points of potential improvement in the event of a similar situation in the future.

“The way we handled it resulted well,” said Valles, who commended the student who reported the incident to Gray. Valles hopes that every student will report future incidents to adults on campus.

“It’s a really safe campus overall, but it takes something like this to remind students how to report and why,” she said.