A Bronx mother has been left “enraged” and “shaken,” following news that at the Harlem school attended by two of her children, a 17-year-old male student was found to have been in possession of a gun on the school campus on Tuesday, June 7. He has since been arrested.

 

Police said at approximately 12.30 in the afternoon on June 7, officers from the 25th precinct in East Harlem were informed that “a student was in possession of a firearm” inside Harlem Prep Elementary School/Democratic Prep Endurance High School, located at 240 East 123rd Street in Manhattan.

 

NYPD officials said, “A 17-year-old male student was tak[en] into custody and a loaded 9 mm firearm was recovered.” They added, “There were no injuries as a result of this incident.” Pursuant to an ongoing investigation, police later said the teen was charged with “criminal possession of a weapon – [a] loaded firearm in school.”

 

Norwood News asked both the NYPD and the high school in question if they could provide further details about the circumstances surrounding the incident, where the student was when the incident unfolded, if the student had a history of mental health issues, how the student obtained the gun, who was with him, how the gun was discovered, how it passed the school’s security, and when it was confiscated. We also asked if an evacuation had taken place at the charter school, as a result of the incident.

 

An NYPD official replied, saying, “School was not evacuated, unknown mental health issues.” We asked if students or staff had been threatened with the gun, and police responded, saying, “No.”

 

According to the school’s website, Democratic Prep Endurance High School is part of the Democracy Prep Public Schools model. “Currently educating scholars in grades 9 – 12, Democracy Prep Endurance High School seeks to build on the success of the Democracy Prep Public Schools model and ensure even more young men and women in Harlem are on the path to success in college and citizenship.”

 

Because the school seemed to be a type of public charter school, and even though it has its own security guards, we reached out to New York City Department of Education (DOE) about the incident to ask about the level of security in place at the school as well as any initiatives in place to address mental health challenges. A DOE spokesperson responded, saying, “Democracy Prep is a charter school. You’ll have to go to them.”

 

According to a report by the New York Post, on June 7, a school representative was quoted as saying, “An alert security guard noticed an altercation between some students in a stairwell.” The guard reportedly stepped in and asked what was happening, at which point, one of the students allegedly said that he had a gun in his backpack.

 

The school official was quoted as adding, “We immediately called the police and locked down the school until the police finished their investigation and gave the all clear. We’re thankful to the police for their quick response and glad that the incident was contained.” The Post reported that cops confiscated the gun, and that according to a police spokeswoman, it wasn’t clear if the gun was loaded.

 

Monique Riley is the Bronx mother whose 8-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter attend the Harlem schools at the location. Riley posted the following message on her social media on Wednesday, June 8.

 

“I was informed that, yesterday, a high school teen that attends my third and fourth grader school brought a gun with him to school. And my children[‘s] school was on lock down until the police came to my kids’ school to escort the teen out. The thought that this could have been another tragedy is really making me feel like back to homeschool my babies go.”

 

Riley added that the principal sent an email out to parents about the incident but said there was no meeting to further discuss with parents how the gun made it into the school, nor how the school planned to prevent similar incidents from happening. “If you can’t protect my children while they are in your care, then my children will not be there,” Riley wrote. “More parents should be outraged especially after what happened in Uvalde, Texas,” She added, “Today, my kids are at home and I don’t care about how the school feel[s], period…. #Torn”

 

She later told Norwood News, “I am in the process of reaching out to the principal and awaiting a response for a parent meeting, via Zoom.”

Riley added that on Tuesday, as confirmed by police, the school which her son and daughter attended had been placed under lockdown and that parents were made aware of the situation at the end of the school day as kids were leaving school. “I was outraged,” she said. “I would have picked up my kids yesterday soon afterwards [had she known about the incident]. My kids [were] unaware [of what had occurred], and that sent me into a fury.”

 

Riley added, “I have so many questions, like how did it [the gun] get into the school admins? What’s the plan of action? High schooler[s] should never be allowed to go to the same school as elementary in my opinion, so [it] formed into two [schools]. Not sure if I will let them go for the rest of the week.”

 

Riley, who, as reported, runs a nonprofit to prevent human trafficking and support survivors of both human trafficking and domestic abuse, recently moved the nonprofit to a new office space at 555 West 235th Street in Riverdale. The nonprofit she founded and runs with her husband, Joe Riley, is now called the Freedom Youth Family Justice Center, and was previously profiled by Norwood News in 2020.

 

https://t.co/PGoe2oWwJT

— Norwood News (@NorwoodNews) June 9, 2022

 

 

Monique later said, “We got another email [from the school], stating that they only scanned the high schoolers before entering the school and that’s it.” She added, “But there are siblings, and how do we know if the teens are not asking younger students who are not being scanned or checked to hold a weapon until they get in the building? We need stricter laws.”

 

Norwood News had also contacted the school itself for more information about what happened, since there didn’t appear to be any public notice on the school’s website or social media accounts about the incident.

 

On Thursday, June 9, a spokesperson responded, and explained how the incident unfolded, saying, “An alert security guard noticed a student reaching into their backpack during an altercation in a stairwell and immediately intervened. The security guard secured the student and their backpack, the school was put on an immediate lockdown, and the police were called.”

 

The school spokesperson added, “They responded swiftly, conducted a search that found the firearm, secured the scene, established that there was no further threat, and the lockdown ended 19 minutes later. We are thankful to our guard and to the NYPD for their swift responses.”

 

Norwood News also asked about the scanner situation referenced by Monique. The spokesperson responded, saying, “DPPS has not implemented metal detectors indefinitely at its schools. They are using metal detectors / wand scanners this week at both high schools on 123rd street out of an abundance of caution and in accordance with NYPD and DOE school safety guidance. Only high school students are scanned.”

 

The spokesperson also shared a copy of the communication that he said had been distributed to parents in the aftermath of the event on Tuesday, confirming that the school had indeed gone into lockdown, and that under advice of the police, the lockdown was lifted at 12.59 p.m. “The police investigated and resolved the situation. The police did not find any additional imminent threat to the scholars, staff or school building,” the notice read, in part. “Out of an abundance of caution, we have requested an additional police presence for our dismissal.”

 

 

Norwood News recently reported on the topic of gun safety, asking parents if they felt comfortable with the level of security in place at Bronx schools in the wake of a slate of recent mass shootings across the country, including the one in Uvalde, Texas, where as reported by the Texas Tribune, as of June 6, a gunman had killed 19 elementary schoolchildren and two teachers at Robb Elementary School, and had also injured 17 others in Uvalde, in mid-May. We also reported on a number of recent security-related incidents at local Bronx schools in recent months, along with the response received from DOE officials at that time.

 

Meanwhile, as reported, New York State officials have been celebrating the latest gun violence legislation which was made law on June 6.  On the passage of the bill, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark tweeted, “Anything we can do to stem the carnage of mass shootings, and the everyday gun violence that plagues our communities must be done NOW. I applaud @GovKathyHochul, Speaker @CarlHeastie and Majority Leader @AndreaSCousins for taking action at the State level and hopefully, Congress will act too. I’m glad she signed these laws in the Bronx, with our community leaders standing in support.”

In the context of a further then-impending federal vote expected on June 8, we spoke about the issue of gun control with Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez (A.D. 80), who, as reported, is currently running for State Senate in District 34, a seat currently held by State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, who in turn, as reported, is running for Congress in New York’s 17th congressional district.

 

The assembly member said of the issue, “Well, that is a priority for sure that I want to continue in the senate. I mean, we’re very proud of the package that we passed in the legislature this past week. We need to see some action on the federal level, so I hope that, you know, mid-term brings us more strength to get that done, but it’s been a terrible, terrible crisis. It is a terrible crisis, and we need to see some action. New York State is leading the way, and I think that that can be mimicked in other states and in the country as a whole.” 

 

As previously reported, the NYPD continues to oversee school safety agents in New York City public schools run by the DOE. In light of the recent mass shootings across the country, and in the context of the security scanner situation at the Harlem charter school, referenced by Monique, Norwood News contacted the NYPD for comment as to what additional security measures, in general, have been implemented, if any, to help prevent a potential mass shooting at a New York City public school.

 

We also asked what additional security support (if any) is available to non-public schools in this regard. We did not receive an immediate response. We also followed up with the DOE to ask what measures, if any, have been taken, in general, to assess students for any mental health needs at public schools. We did not receive an immediate response but will update this story upon receipt of any additional feedback we receive.

White House Press Briefing with @PressSec Karine Jean-Pierre and Matthew @McConaughey – LIVE online here: https://t.co/mTgQ1xNNVT pic.twitter.com/t1jY4nZgMg

— CSPAN (@cspan) June 7, 2022

 

News of the 17-year-old’s arrest came two days before federal legislators at the House of Representatives voted in what has been regarded by some as an unprecedented bipartisan bill, the “Protecting our Kids Act” which, among other measures, as reported, raises the age to buy semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21. It still has to pass in the U.S. senate. The bill comes after Uvalde and Buffalo families testified in Congress, and a day after an emotional address was given by actor and Uvalde native, Matthew McConaughey, in the White House press briefing room.

 

As also reported, prior to the bill’s passage in the House, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had voiced her frustration on social media at the unwillingness of some of her legislative colleagues across the political divide to do the necessary on gun control. As part of a hearing on gun control legislation, the congresswoman discussed with witness, Becky Pringle, how between 2009 and 2018, there were 288 school shootings, while in G7 partner countries, during the same period, there were just five. “It is internationally embarrassing,” she said. 

 

A person arrested and charged with a crime is deemed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.