Police find gun on West Mesa High student, juvenile jail refuses to book

May 14—Authorities say a West Mesa High School student was found intoxicated and with a loaded gun in his waistband in a classroom on Monday afternoon.

Monica Armenta, an Albuquerque Public Schools spokeswoman, said the student told police he bought the gun from a friend.

The Albuquerque Police Department discovered the gun was one of 150 stolen from a gun store during a large-scale burglary in 2020, according to an APD incident report.

In a letter to parents, Principal Michele Torres said the student "did not express any intentions of harming himself or others." She said the teen will face discipline "up to and including expulsion and prosecution."

The 16-year-old, who is in 10th grade, was charged with unlawful carry and possession of a firearm on school grounds.

Instead of being booked, however, the boy was turned away from the Bernalillo County juvenile detention center and returned to his parent's home, according to a letter from Sheriff John Allen and District Attorney Sam Bregman.

The letter was sent Tuesday to Greg Perez, Bernalillo County deputy manager for public safety, and shared with the media by Bregman's office. In it, Allen and Bregman say the facility's booking process was unclear and lacked urgency.

Allen and Bregman said the boy was first brought to the hospital "out of concern for his intoxication level" and medically cleared and released, according to the letter.

An APS officer tried to book the teen and YSC held him for several hours before they "demanded" he be taken back to the hospital, and "there were also talks about obtaining a blood draw, even though there was no legal basis."

Bregman and Allen also said the facility's staff "seemingly" overlooked the teen's constitutional rights and HIPAA protections in requesting an unauthorized blood draw and asking for medical care details.

The end result, the letter said, was the boy being returned to his parent's home without knowing if the boy got the gun or alcohol there.

"Without the ability to safely book young people that are accused of dangerous crimes, the ability to protect the community diminishes if it doesn't disappear completely," according to the letter.

The letter said that Bregman and Allen met with "interested parties regarding the population at (the Youth Services Center) and this incident was the primary focus of discussion." During the meeting, it was agreed that booking criteria would be shared with community stakeholders "so that they would have a better idea of what keeps a child from being booked into the facility."

"We look forward to receiving this information as there does not appear to be a uniform approach as of this time," according to the letter.

Melissa Smith, a county spokeswoman, said they are working on guidelines to "help law enforcement understand the pre-established medical protocols that are accepted into YSC, and which ones will trigger a refusal."

She said the delay, and refusal, in booking the teen Monday stemmed from "a lack of information" in his medical clearance paired with a YSC nurse's concern that he had possibly used drugs and "couldn't assure his safety" without medical clearance.

Smith cited the law that allows for youth detention centers to deny admission without medical clearance when a provider has "a concern."

"In the end, Albuquerque Public Schools elected to return the boy to his parents rather than proceed with obtaining the requested/required documentation needed to safely book the individual into YSC," she said.

Smith, however, called it "unacceptable" that the APS officer had to wait for more than three hours at the facility and said the issue "will be dealt with by the county immediately."

"We understand the frustration situations like this pose for our partners in law enforcement and the DA's office, and we are working tirelessly to streamline our operations," Smith said.

The teen's family declined to comment Tuesday.

It was the most recent incident to fray relations between law enforcement and the detention center, where 13 teens caused a disturbance on Christmas Day. The incident led to minor injuries, property destruction and Allen's crisis negotiators bargaining with teens over items like chicken wings.

At the time, Allen called into question whether the facility is equipped to handle its population. Parents and advocates of the teens jailed there, meanwhile, have asked county officials to improve living conditions inside the facility.

The facility, which has been dealing with staffing shortages, has had increased occupancy after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham ordered the automatic detention of juveniles for possessing a gun. Since September, 160 juveniles have been jailed after being found with a gun statewide, according to the governor's gun violence dashboard, which hasn't been updated since March.

A Journal analysis published in April 2023 found that of the 17 guns seized on APS grounds during that school year — three of them at West Mesa High — APS police could only say where five of the guns came from.

At the time, neither APS police, APD, BCSO nor Bregman's office could say where the other 12 guns came from, and it was unclear how much APS did to trace the weapons' origins.

On Monday, APS police relied on APD to find out.

Albuquerque police were called to West Mesa High School around 2:40 p.m. to run a serial number on a Glock 9mm as APS police "do not have access to the National Crime Information Center," according to the incident report.

The gun was taken during a June 2020 break-in at JCT Firearms, where burglars cut the power and stole 115 pistols and 35 rifles as police dealt with protesters Downtown.

The incident report states the 16-year-old "was very agitated and combative" after the gun was seized from him at West Mesa High. The officer tried to call the federal agent investigating the 2020 break-in, but the agent had since left the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Another ATF agent offered to look into the case and asked the officer to tag the stolen gun as evidence.

In her letter to parents, West Mesa Principal Torres thanked the student who "alerted us to the firearm" and said it was proof that "our see something/say something messaging is working."

"Incidents like this heighten anxieties within our school community," Torres wrote. "... It is crucial for everyone to remain vigilant and promptly report any suspicious activities or concerns. Your watchfulness and willingness to speak up play an integral role in maintaining a safe and secure environment for our students and staff."