Permian student sentenced for bringing gun to school

15-year-old gets 9 months in secured facility, probation

A 15-year-old Permian High School student will be spending nine months in a secured facility and considerable time on probation after he was adjudicated for unlawfully carrying a weapon in a prohibited space and evading arrest.

Although Judge Brooke Hendricks ordered the teenager to be placed on probation until his 18th birthday, Ector County Juvenile Probation Director Kevin Mann said he could be released from probation early if she chooses to.

The teenager was arrested Aug. 26 after students and staff reported seeing him trying to get into the school with a gun around 3:30 p.m.

According to authorities, ECISD police and Odessa Police Department officers arrived and found the student inside the school with a 9mm handgun. They said the student had recently been released from a Texas Youth Camp facility.

School district officials are prohibited from commenting on disciplinary actions taken against any specific student. However, under the school district’s Student Code of Conduct, students can face expulsion for bringing weapons to school.

“The length of an expulsion shall be based on the seriousness of the offense, the student’s age and grade level, the frequency of misbehavior, and statutory requirements. The duration of a student’s expulsion shall be determined on a case-by-case basis,” the code states.

According to the code, the maximum period of expulsion is one calendar year unless the district determines the student is a threat to the safety of other students and district employees or if it believes an extended expulsion is in the best interest of the student.

The student was one of three students to be arrested for allegedly bringing a weapon on campus during the first few weeks of the school year. One case was dropped when prosecutors determined they didn’t have enough evidence to take the case to court. The second case, involving an Odessa High School student, is pending.

Several additional students have been arrested since that time for allegedly threatening to shoot people and/or bring weapons to school.

The board of trustees on Oct. 18 approved a $12 million budget amendment that included $472,500 for new officers and related expenses, Ector County ISD Chief Communications Officer Mike Adkins said. The other items in the amendment were unrelated to the new officers.