PHOENIX — A mother is urging schools to do more after a teen brought an AR-15 and ammunition to her daughter's school, Bostrom Alternative High School.
Dyna Boutchee said it’s going to be hard to feel comfortable with her teenager going to school there, knowing the school just became another statistic.
“Schools are just dangerous now,” she told ABC15.
Boutchee said this incident has shaken her and her 16-year-old daughter to their core.
“She’s scared to go to school. She doesn’t want to go to school.”
Now they're looking into other forms of schooling after police arrested a student at Bostrom High School Friday.
The student allegedly brought an AR-15 on campus and had ammunition in their backpack and lunchbox.
“She knew the child. They were in her last class. Her last period. She says there’s a lot of mental health issues with that student as well. And she’s told me that he’s brought weapons to school before. And that he’s bullied,” added Boutchee.
Those claims have not been confirmed by the school or Phoenix Union High School District, but Boutchee says these are issues the school is aware of.
“They’ve continued to let the child back in. So it’s not an eyeopener or a new thing either,” she said.
Boutchee said it was a pure chance her daughter didn’t go to school that day, but…
“She could have, and I was pushing her to go. It’s very scary," she said, adding students should not be worried about whether they’ll make it back from school or not.
“She should be worried about the homework, but unfortunately it’s not the case,” said Boutchee.
From what ABC15 has reported; there have been at least 18 known incidents of guns brought to Arizona schools this school year alone.
That’s compared to four just last year and six in 2018-2019, which was the last pre-pandemic school year.
“They need to have law enforcement or metal detectors, perhaps,” Boutchee told ABC15.
Bostrom High is under the Phoenix Union High School District, which has been debating whether or not to bring back school resource officers (SROs) onto its campuses.
RELATED: Phoenix Union cuts ties with school resource officers
The district's safety committee recommended that the district bring back SROs in March after conducting meetings on the topic over seven months with parents, students and staff members.
The district's board members ultimately voted to reject the recommendation during a meeting earlier this month. The vote allows the board to exercise its own options, regardless of the committee's recommendation.
“I think they need to put more into that,” added Boutchee.
ABC15 reached out to Phoenix Union High School District regarding Boutchee’s claims and is waiting to hear back.
As for the student who brought the gun, police say they’re facing "a number of serious" felony charges.
