An 11-year-old boy who brought a knife to Denver Public Schools’ Green Valley Ranch Middle School last week is facing criminal prosecution for felony menacing and weapons possession.
Denver prosecutors on Friday confirmed they’ve charged the boy with one count of menacing and one count of possessing a weapon on school grounds.
District Attorney Beth McCann in a letter Tuesday notified Denver Public Schools administrators of the charges, as required under state law, based on the incident last week.
McCann declined to comment, due to an open police investigation of what happened at the school. The Green Valley Ranch Middle School is one of 16 in a Denver School of Science and Technology network.
Last month, a teenager brought a gun into Denver’s East High School and shot two adult administrators before fleeing and dying by suicide about 50 miles southwest of Denver near Bailey in Park County. That shooting led to a declaration by Denver Public Schools’ superintendent that police officers will be put back in schools, and McCann publicly vowed aggressive prosecution of juveniles involved in violence.
Denver district attorney officials will “aggressively prosecute juveniles involved in violent activities,” she said at the time.
Armed school safety officers since have been placed in schools.
On April 6, the boy was found with a knife in the Green Valley Ranch Middle School.
“No one was hurt. There was never a threat,” DPS-DSST spokeswoman Moira Wiedenman told the Denver Post Friday morning.
“We’ve been communicating with parents.”
It was unclear whether Denver police arrested the boy at school. The day before, many Green Valley Ranch Middle School students took part in national protests demanding increased gun control, checking out with school administrators and marching around their building demanding safety.
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