Animas student arrested, charged for bringing gun to school

ANIMAS — Over 100 members of a small ranching community in New Mexico’s Bootheel packed into an auditorium at the Animas Public Schools complex on Tuesday looking for answers about the recent arrest of a 16-year-old high school sophomore who allegedly brought a gun into a classroom.

Until that evening, little official information had been shared about the student, who was charged on one count of bringing a firearm onto campus, a fourth-degree felony, and a misdemeanor count of possession of a handgun by a person under the age of 19. The Journal is not identifying the student because he is a minor. Sixth Judicial District Attorney Norman Wheeler has not indicated whether the student will be tried as an adult. Wheeler was unavailable for comment Wednesday.

“The school did not get information to the public in a timely manner,” Animas Public Schools Superintendent Jeff Gephart acknowledged. At the same time, he said he was in consultation with legal counsel and risk management consultants about communicating with the public without violating laws protecting students’ privacy. He also said an administrator would be designated as a public information officer for the district moving forward.

Parents complained they had not received a notification directly from the school. The day following the arrest, Gephart sent a letter home to district families, which was also posted on social media, reporting that “law enforcement was on our campus investigating an incident,” with no mention of an arrest or the presence of a firearm, and little detail on measures taken to guard the safety of children and personnel.

“While this was occurring, we had students remain working in their classrooms,” Gephart’s letter continued. “Law enforcement resolved the matter quickly and determined that our students and staff were safe and should continue our day as normal.”

On Jan. 29, two days after the arrest, Hidalgo County Sheriff William Chadborn issued a statement saying deputies had responded to a service call at the schools involving “a minor with a firearm on school property.”

The complex includes an elementary and middle school, as well as the high school. The district’s total student enrollment in the 2023-24 school year was 159, per data from the New Mexico Public Education Department.

The Animas Town Hall, led by Gephart alongside the sheriff, offered few new details about the investigation, which Chadborn said remained active. He read a statement from the district attorney saying, “Law enforcement has not received any credible evidence to substantiate the truth of any rumor that might put the safety of the general public or particular persons at risk.”

Later in the meeting, Chadborn specified that a widely rumored target list had not been found, nor had anyone come forward who had seen such a list.

The town hall focused on the school’s response, fielding questions and comments from the public and acknowledging security vulnerabilities at a facility with a small administrative staff and little funding for security technology.

Gephart said he was notified during third period that a student may have had a gun in his bag, and that within three minutes the student had been escorted into a conference room while staff called 911 and the student’s guardian. Gephart said a shelter-in-place order was called at the high school, with students continuing to work in locked classrooms. After that, Gephart said he and staff visited every classroom to debrief students, discuss lockdown procedures and emphasize the importance of reporting suspicious or dangerous activity.

“I was a little upset that I didn’t get this until third period,” Gephart said.

Chadborn said deputies arrived at the school at 10:41 a.m., 15 minutes after the call. “That’s not a bad response time, considering we don’t always have a deputy sitting here waiting for something to happen,” Chadborn said. Animas is approximately 35 miles south of Lordsburg, the county seat.

Deputies located a gun in the student’s backpack, which they unloaded and secured for safety, Chadborn said.

Gephart said ongoing issues with school intercoms and staff radios were being addressed. He asked the public for trust and to refrain from spreading unsubstantiated rumors or “storming the school” in the middle of an emergency.

Some parents and high school students praised the administration and law enforcement during the comment period, while others questioned the administration’s attentiveness to students’ emotional health or warning signs of bullying, suicidality and other signs of distress.

Noting that gun ownership is common in this ranching community, the sheriff urged students and families to make sure vehicles were clear of weapons before entering school property because students face arrest and weapons charges.

After the two-hour meeting closed, Gephart said, “We’re going to continue this conversation, and going into budget season, I’m going to see what kind of security money is out there. ... But we can’t just throw money at a problem. We have to throw money at a solution.”