Albuquerque Public Schools Superintendent Gabriella Blakey sent a letter to families Friday afternoon, two days after five students were arrested with firearms at or near APS campuses Wednesday in what Blakey called a “deeply troubling” day.
On Wednesday, four guns were found on students at two different schools, with a fifth student arrested with a weapon near another campus.
“It goes without saying that a single gun on any one of our campuses is too many,” Blakey wrote in the letter. “To have four guns found on students at two schools on the same day, and a fifth student arrested with a gun near another one of our campuses, is deeply troubling.”
The guns were discovered at West Mesa High School and Albuquerque High School through what Blakey called effective “See Something, Say Something” reporting by students and staff.
A fifth incident was prevented when an APS campus service aide spotted a Del Norte High School student who was being sought by police due to prior incidents and reports that she might be armed. The aide saw the student and her boyfriend, also a Del Norte student, walking outside the school gate. Both ran when approached but were taken into custody by Albuquerque Police Department and APS officers. A gun was found during their search.
At West Mesa High School, a teacher used the district’s new Centegix alert badge system to summon police after being told a student was seen with a gun in a bathroom. The badge allows staff to activate emergency protocols and alert police by clicking a button multiple times.
“Within minutes, they had the student in custody and the weapon secured,” Blakey wrote, praising the teacher for being able to “sound the alarm discreetly.”
The incidents occurred despite the district’s investment of more than $60 million in safety infrastructure, including fencing, cameras, alarms, door locks and secure vestibules. The district has also installed locks on all 6,900 classrooms and implemented ALICE training for active shooter situations.
Blakey credited students who reported the weapons to trusted adults, saying the district’s “See Something, Say Something messaging is working.” She also praised school staff, security aides and police officers who “didn’t hesitate” when learning about potential firearms on campus.
Under district policy, any student caught with a gun on campus faces automatic one-year expulsion, arrest and criminal prosecution.
The superintendent characterized the problem as extending beyond the school system, writing that “something is broken in our society.” She said the district is working to provide emotional support for students and has invested in “redirectors” — specially trained educational assistants who work with students exhibiting inappropriate behavior.
The district has also implemented site safety plans at every school, including active shooter drills, and can share live camera footage with local law enforcement.
“Our layered security approach worked,” Blakey wrote, while acknowledging Wednesday was “a difficult day for several of our schools.”
The incidents come as juvenile crime involving firearms has become a significant concern in New Mexico, with more than two dozen juveniles charged with murder in Bernalillo County from January 2023 to November 2024, most involving firearms.
Albuquerque Public Schools has seen a dramatic increase in campus weapon discoveries since the pandemic, rising from 10 firearms recovered in 2021-22 to a record high of 17 in 2022-23, with 15 found during the 2023-24 school year.