On March 15, at approximately 1:30 p.m., a parent of a student on a school bus started receiving text messages that another student on the bus possibly had a gun. The parent contacted the Lake Havasu City Police Department and officers immediately began the process to identify and locate the school bus.  Another text message to the same parent advised the student was now holding the gun in his hand. 

The bus was located within minutes by Lake Havasu City police officers on S.R. 95 and North Palo Verde Boulevard and a traffic stop was conducted.  All of the students were safely evacuated from the bus and contact was made with the student believed to have had the gun.  Officers located a black BB gun which looked very similar to a real handgun inside the backpack of the student.

As a result of the investigation, a 14-year-old male middle school student was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated assault.  The juvenile was booked into juvenile detention.  

A video which did capture part of the incident was posted to social media a short time later by someone on the bus.  As a result of follow up to the video, a second 14-year-old male middle school student was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated assault. The juvenile was booked into juvenile detention. 

The Lake Havasu City Police Department introduced Text-to-9-1-1 in April 2017 as another tool the community can use in emergency situations where it may be too dangerous to make a voice call or for those with a hearing or speech impairment in need of emergency help. Text-to-9-1-1 gives cell phone users the ability to send a text message to reach LHCPD 9-1-1 emergency call takers from your mobile phone or device. In this type of situation, the service could have been used to communicate directly with police dispatchers and possibly help remove some of the delay.  Text-to-9-1-1 should only be used in an emergency and only if a voice call cannot be made.  

Public Information Officer:  Sergeant Tom Gray (928) 855-1171