An Arizona teenager is facing felony charges after showing up at school with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and a cache of ammunition stashed in his lunchbox, according to reports.
The 15-year-old student, who was not identified, forced Bostrom High School in Phoenix into a lockdown around 1 p.m. Friday after administrators got a tip that the weapon was on school grounds, News reported Saturday.
Police responded to the campus, confiscated the weapon and took the student into custody.
The teen was charged as a juvenile with possession of a weapon, carrying a weapon on school grounds and interfering with an educational institution.
“We commend those who originally reported the possibility of a weapon on school grounds to adults on campus who immediately called police,” Phoenix police said in a statement.
In a separate statement school district officials also thanked the unidentified tipster.
“As always, the safety and well-being of our staff, students and visitors remains our top priority and we will work with law enforcement as they continue to investigate,” the statement said.
AR-15-style rifles have been identified as the weapons used in many of the recent mass shootings in the US, including the mass shooting at a Texas mall earlier this month that left eight dead and last year’s school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 people, including students.