From ABC7 New York · · 1m 30s
Guns at two NYC schools, days into the year
Two loaded guns turned up at city schools in one day, and students say nobody told them what was happening.
In brief
Two loaded guns turned up at city schools in one day, and students say nobody told them what was happening. The screening caught the weapons, but the alert system meant to warn nearby schools had been switched off since June. Originally reported by ABC7 New York.
Two guns, one Monday
Loaded guns were found at two New York City schools just days into the new school year. Both students are facing weapons charges.
Caught at the scanner
At the Queens School for Career Development, a loaded gun was found Monday afternoon in a 17-year-old's bag during screening before he entered the building. He is being prosecuted as a juvenile.
A fight on Staten Island
At Curtis High School, 18-year-old Samuel Owusu was arrested after a fight inside the building. Safety agents pulled a gun with bullets in the cartridge from his backpack.
Students heard the threat
One Curtis student described the altercation and what the detained teen said before staff took his bag. The account is why the backpack got searched at all.
“They were slamming each other into the walls and the kid who got detained said, 'I'm gonna shoot you.'”
Nobody told them anything
Students said the school never announced the incident, leaving them unable to reach their parents. That frustration sits at the center of the story.
“The school doesn't tell us or announce these things. We want to, you know, maybe contact our parents... but they don't tell us this.”
The alert system was off
The city is rebuilding the tool that warns nearby private schools about lockdowns. It was shut off in June to free up resources for World Cup and America250 messaging.
The headline
The screening caught the weapons, but the alert system meant to warn nearby schools had been switched off since June.
