Three Cranston West Students Arrested for Guns on School Grounds

CRANSTON, RI—Three students at Cranston High School West were arrested Tuesday for bringing two handguns and a stun gun onto school grounds on Monday.

The students—three boys between the ages of 14 to 16—are now facing numerous charges and were held at the Rhode Island Training School overnight pending their arraignments in Family Court on Wednesday.

Police said one student took two handguns and ammunition from home and traded one of the guns to another boy for a jacket. Once that boy got the gun, he brought the gun to an after-school event at the school where he met two other boys. Two of the juveniles briefly left the event and "fired the weapon into the ground in a nearby wooded area off school grounds," said Cranston Police Chief Col. Michael J. Winquist.

After firing the gun, they then returned to the athletic event.

During the investigation, police learned that one of the boys was in possession of a stun gun. That gun was seized and turned over to the School Resource Officer.

Winquist said that no gun was ever in the school building, and there was no evidence that any student was in harm's way. None of the boys who were arrested intended to harm any other students or faculty members, Winquist said.

The guns were seized on Tuesday afternoon at a student's residence.

"The safety of all students and faculty is of the highest priority and the expedient resolution to this incident is a tribute to the open communication within the school community and immediate response by investigators," Winquist said.

Police will have an increased presence at the school on Wednesday as a precautionary measure, as well as to bring some comfort to parents who were alarmed to learn there was a gun-related incident at the school. Many got word of the situation, first reported by the Patch on Tuesday, by their children who gave various accounts of what happened.

Principal Thomas Barbieri sent an e-mail to parents on Tuesday afternoon notifying them that there was an incident involving three students and the situation was resolved, though he made no mention of guns in the email.

"It will be business as usual at Cranston High School West tomorrow,” said Major Todd Patalano.

Cranston Superintendent Jeannine Nota-Masse said she is grateful for the work of the staff at the school, the school resource officer and police department who worked together to investigate the incident.

"I commend those who shared this information with our administrators, so we were able to act quickly. Student and staff safety is paramount to us at all times. We will continue to work collaboratively with the Cranston Police, in all matters involving the safety of our schools, students and staff,” Nota-Masse said.

The 15-year-old is facing charges of sale, transfer or delivery of firearms to minors; sale, transfer, or delivery of ammunition to minors, possession of ammunition by a minor, possession of a firearm by a minor, carrying a pistol without a permit and possession of a stolen firearm.

The 14-year-old was charged with possession of ammunition by a minor, possession of a firearm by a minor, carrying a pistol without a permit, firing in a compact area and possession of firearms on school grounds.

The 16-year-old is facing the same charges as the 14-year-old plus a charge of weapons other than firearms prohibited for possessing the stun gun.