Brooklyn Park police have arrested two 15-year-old students at Champlin Park High School for allegedly taking a handgun to school.
Both teens were arrested and booked at the Hennepin County Juvenile Detention Center without incident, according to authorities. The investigation is ongoing.
Police first learned at about 8:45 a.m. Friday that a Champlin Park student may have a handgun. Officers worked with the school resource officer to determine the students allegedly involved, and found a handgun inside a backpack.
The two male students were then arrested. Authorities didn’t say why the handgun was taken to the school or whether it was loaded; Brooklyn Park police and officials with Anoka-Hennepin Schools were unavailable Saturday for comment.
Recent Minnesota Star Tribune analysis of state data shows that the number of guns found on school grounds has skyrocketed since the COVID-19 pandemic. Between the 2021-22 and 2022-23 academic years, officials statewide recovered nearly 200 firearms, more than half of which were handguns.
Schools have launched new safety protocols in response, but say that the surge in guns represents a spike in youth crime and mental health struggles that worsened during the pandemic.