Courtesy of Organ Mountain News
Damien Willis, Southern New Mexico Journalism Collaborative
Incident shakes up community in New Mexico’s Bootheel
LAS CRUCES – A 16-year-old male student was arrested Monday, Jan. 27, at Animas High School for allegedly carrying a gun on campus.
The incident reportedly happened during the second period, according to sources familiar with the situation. That’s when school administrators reportedly removed the student from the classroom — separating him from his belongings — and found the handgun.
The incident has rattled this Southwest New Mexico community, typically seen as a quiet, peaceful small town. And it has left some parents seeking answers amid what has seemed to some to have been a trickle of information from school officials and law enforcement.
A public meeting is slated for Tuesday evening about the issue.
The student, who’s not being identified by Southern New Mexico Journalism Collaborative because he’s a minor, currently faces one count of unlawful carrying of a deadly weapon on school premises, a fourth-degree felony, according to court documents obtained from the New Mexico courts. He is also charged with the unlawful carrying of a handgun by a person under age 19, a misdemeanor.
While there are rumors swirling around the small town — with a population of 180 as of 2020 — about what led to the alleged shooting threat, nothing has been confirmed by official sources.
Animas High School is pictured in this undated photo from Google Street View. (Courtesy image / Google Maps)
Superintendent, sheriff issue statements
Because the student is currently being treated as a juvenile, there is no statement of facts or showing of probable cause filed in the court case. Former Doña Ana County District Attorney Gerald Byers, who is currently a prosecutor in the Sixth Judicial District, is prosecuting the case. It remains unclear whether the student will ultimately be charged as an adult.
The following day, Jan. 28, Superintendent Jeff Gephart sent a letter to the community acknowledging there was an incident on campus that required the involvement of law enforcement, but did not specify the nature of the threat. Gephart stated that law enforcement “resolved the matter quickly and determined that our students and staff were safe and should continue our day as normal.”
Gephart stated that Animas Public Schools works with law enforcement to “determine the nature of the threat and how to investigate and handle each threat.” That may include whether to continue working in classrooms or putting the school on lockdown, Gephart wrote.
“In the coming weeks and months, we will be working with our school board, our legal counsel and our risk mitigating partner, Poms and Associates, to ensure we are doing everything possible to continue to keep our students and staff safe,” Gephart stated.
On Wednesday, Jan. 29, Hidalgo County Sheriff William Chadborn issued a news release with a few more details.
“On Monday January 27, 2025, the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call for service at Animas Public Schools,” the release stated. “This call for service involved a minor with a firearm on school property. Deputies responded and took the minor into custody without incident. A firearm was recovered. The minor was charged and is still in custody. The investigation is ongoing and as information develops, we will make it available to the public.”
Since that release, a public information session has been scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 4 at the Animas Public Schools Auditorium, 1 Panther Drive, in Animas to address public concern over the incident. The session will include representatives from Animas Public Schools and the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Department.
Rick Upshaw, a bus driver for Animas Public Schools, knows the student, his siblings and grandparents, with whom the student lived in nearby Hachita. The bus ride is about 40 minutes each way. Upshaw said the children’s grandmother passed away in November. When Upshaw learned the identity of the student, he said he was shocked.
“I was floored, to put it bluntly, that it was him,” Upshaw said.
Upshaw has since spoken to the student’s grandfather, who he described as “visibly shaken.”
Upshaw has driven the student and his younger siblings to school since August, he said. He described the student as kind and sensitive.
“It was all a shock that this happened,” Upshaw said.
While Upshaw acknowledged there has been some criticism in the community of the district’s response to the incident — particularly when it comes to communication — he doesn’t believe it is warranted.
“I’ve been around school systems for all my life, basically, and I’m a senior citizen,” Upshaw said. “And I know that teachers, administrators and superintendents are always on the hot seat.”
Community reaction
Upshaw said some community members are upset that the school didn’t go into a lockdown and are second-guessing the actions taken by Gephart and school administrators, but he believes Gephart took appropriate measures to address the issue.
“This is a person who has great character,” Upshaw said. “He has driven my bus when situations arose that we needed a substitute.”
He also believes the district has been proactive in addressing threats — even looking closely at their own safety plans following the Uvalde, Texas school shooting in 2022 in which 19 students and two teachers were killed when a gunman barricaded himself inside the school. Upshaw said he believes that Gephart reacted with “adequate and sufficient force to mitigate the threat” last week.
Upshaw said the community is reeling, facing the prospect of what could have happened.
“The town is extremely upset about the situation,” Upshaw said. “They’re upset that something happened here that they thought could never happen.”
When reached, Gephart declined to comment for this article, referring us back to the public statements issued by the school district.
The student is currently being held without bond at the Lea County Detention Center in Lovington, according to court documents.
The student is scheduled to appear for a pre-trial docket call on Thursday, Feb. 6, before Sixth Judicial District Judge Jarod Hofacket. It’s currently unclear what may transpire at that hearing. It’s possible that prosecutors could announce their intent to try the juvenile as an adult, and the student’s defense could ask to revisit his detention status or conditions of release.
The full article can be seen at: https://www.organmountainnews.com/animas-high-teen-accused-of-taking-gun-to-campus/
Damien Willis is the founder and editor of Organ Mountain News and a freelance reporter for the Southern New Mexico Journalism Collaborative. He can be reached at 575-571-5225 or by email at damienwillis@gmail.com.
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