PHOENIX — A legal loophole has been closed in Arizona and it may keep students and teachers safer while holding potential school shooters accountable.
It has to do with terrorism charges not being applicable to private schools.
Prosecutors and higher education leaders noticed the legal blind spot after the August 2021 arrest of Tony Tran.
Tran was arrested after he sent a video to his sibling, telling her was going to shoot up Midwestern University at a meeting the next morning.
The med school student had recently been suspended from the university. When officers arrested him, they say he was on his way to Glendale, to meet with a dean, with a loaded Glock pistol in his car.
"Tony had intent to kill, he had a plan. And if given the opportunity, he would have carried it out. I wouldn't be here before you today," said Dr. Jeffery Jensen, the Dean of Midwestern University's Podiatric Medicine, at Tran's sentencing in late November.
He was booked into jail and at the time police recommended one count of terrorism, one count of terroristic threats, and one count of interfering with an educational institution.
Prosecutors though could only charge the final count since Arizona state statute did not include private schools under the terroristic threat definition.
"I felt it was important to be here today, because the charges interference with an educational institution with potential for harm, don't really convey the seriousness of the situation," said Dr. Jensen.
"At the time, terrorism did not extend it to private educational institutions," said Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell.
Mitchell, her team, and Midwestern University officials then worked with the legislature to pass Senate Bill 1332 which revised the statute to include private schools in the terrorism charge category.
"We needed to fix the statute so that we have it available to us," said Mitchell. "So, when people do these types of things, regardless, it shouldn’t matter if it’s a private school, or a public school, or any other type of institution."
Tony Tran ended up being sentenced to two and half years in prison - not for any of the recorded school shooting threats, but for interference with a monitoring device after he cut off his ankle monitor while out of jail before the trial.
The court also acknowledged that Tran had mental health issues. The judge ordered three years intensive probation, with mental health terms, once Tran is released from prison.
The Midwestern community though is still reeling from the incident.
"In the aftermath of his arrest, our staff and faculty went into counseling. Students have been stressed and always questioning his current status as they are fearful of him," said Dean Jensen at sentencing. "I've lost a staff member who quit after these events. Multiple faculty have experienced PTSD symptoms."
