A local high school student has been arrested after taking a loaded gun onto the Santa Monica College (SMC) campus.
The unidentified student is part of Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District’s (SMMUSD) Olympic High School and those students are currently housed on the SMC campus as part of a district-wide reshuffling of students related to the temporary closure of the John Muir/SMASH schools.
According to SMC, officers received a tip about the student at about 1 p.m. on Thursday saying he had a possible gun in his bag.
Officers located the student and found a loaded gun in his backpack. The student was arrested for having the gun on campus and transported to the Santa Monica Police Department for booking.
“SMC Police Department will be conducting a thorough investigation of this incident and is committed to protecting the college community,” said the Santa Monica College Chief of Police Johnnie Adams in a notification out to staff on Thursday.
The campus was placed in lockdown for about an hour while the situation was resolved.
SMMUSD Superintendent Dr. Antonio Shelton sent out a letter to parents Thursday reiterating the information provided by SMC and saying the safety of students is a top priority.
"Our students cooperated beautifully during the lockdown, and we appreciate their care and concern during this incident. I also thank the administrators, teachers and campus staff who took the steps necessary to keep students and staff safe," he said. "Please remember that if you see something, say something."
Santa Monica College was the site of a mass shooting 10 years ago when 23-year-old John Zawahri killed five people, before being shot by police on the campus. Zawahri shot two family members at his home and then traveled to the SMC campus killing Margarita Gomez, Carlos Navarro Franco and Marcela Diaz Franco along the way. Several others were wounded in the attack.
