Authorities have accused an Iowa City West High juvenile of possessing a handgun on school property on Oct. 10.

He fled school property prior to the arrival of the police but later turned himself in to the North Liberty police.

The juvenile was charged and arrested with carrying weapons on school grounds on Oct. 16. 

“The district has very specific policies regarding weapons on campus,” said Chase Ramey, the chief community-affairs officer for the School District. “There is a zero-tolerance policy regarding weapons.”

West High Principal Jerry Arganbright said he notified students late Monday afternoon.

“I didn’t want any kids unduly upset,” he said. “It wasn’t a safety issue. It was information I wanted them to have.”

Arganbright said the students responded to the matter in a mature fashion.

“The kids [here] are pretty adult about these kinds of instances,” he said. “I don’t think anyone wants to hear that we had a handgun in school, [but] I think [the students] just wanted to know that the school is safe and continues to be so.”

Parents were also notified at roughly the same time as students via an automatic phone-call system.  

“In terms of any disciplinary action, that is handled internally by the administration and by the School Board,” Ramey said.

Carrying weapons on school grounds is a Class-D felony. 

— by Alyssa Guzman