Two and a half years after a 13-year-old student was shot and killed at Washington Middle School, the Second Judicial District Attorney visited campus to speak with students about the dangers of guns.
Speaking to a group of sixth grade students sitting cross legged on the floor of the gym, District Attorney Sam Bregman stressed that nothing about having a gun makes you cool and his office has a zero tolerance policy for youth who carry firearms.
It’s the job of his office and its 100 prosecutors to keep the Albuquerque community safe, Bregman told the students, and it’s against the law for anyone under 19 to have a gun. The District Attorney is visiting schools in Bernalillo County as part of a community anti-gun at schools initiative. On Thursday he will go to Atrisco Heritage Academy High School.
“There’s no reason ever why you should have a gun,” Bregman said.
If a student finds a gun on campus, or knows of anyone who has a gun on campus, Bregman said they should tell an adult immediately.
“You will be helping everybody else in this whole school, making sure that each and every one of you is safe and that’s what’s most important to me. That’s what’s most important to all of these folks. That’s what’s most important to your families…is to be sure you are safe,” he said.
Bregman said it’s not just on school campuses that kids should stay away from guns, but anywhere in the community. He said there’s no excuse for kids to play with guns.
“You get away as fast as you can and you tell an adult. It’s so important for the safety of you, your friends and your family,” he said.
In 2021, Bennie Hargrove, 13, was shot and killed at Washington Middle School after confronting another 13-year-old student about bullying. Juan Saucedo Jr., pleaded no contest last year was committed to the Children Youth and Families Department up to the age of 21.
Also last year the Albuquerque Public School District settled a lawsuit filed by Hargrove’s family, who said that students had alerted school officials and police of the gun on campus before the shooting. They received $900,000.
Bregman told the students that bringing a gun to school is a bad decision, because it will affect their entire lives. He said he knows that all of the students have dreams of what they want to be when they grow up, and if they work hard in school, they can accomplish those dreams.
“The kid who used the gun, his life is ruined too, because my office will make sure that anybody that hurts someone with a gun, we’ll do our absolute best to make sure they spend a long time in prison, because there are consequences for that kind of action,” he said.
The message, Bregman said, is very straightforward in that if you’re committing a crime even if you’re underage, there will be consequences.
“I have a job and a responsibility to the community to try my best to keep it safe, and that includes juveniles with guns. Juveniles with guns right now are out of control, so we’re going to have heart-to-heart discussions with students, with kids about the dangers of it,’’he said.
If you or anyone you know has a gun they want to dispose of, Bregman said there are local gun buyback programs that can help.