New Mexico school resource officer quickly finds armed student

By Sasha Lenninger

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    ROSWELL, New Mexico (KOAT) — More than 1,150 guns were brought to K-12 campuses last school year, but the weapons were seized before anyone fired them.

That’s according to an investigation done by the Washington Post.

Of those weapons, one was found at Roswell High School on January 4, 2023.

“I was the only school resource officer and I covered 23 schools,” said Roswell Police Officer Anna Romero, a school resource officer. “It was one of those things where I just happened to be at the right place at the right time.”

It was just after breakfast when a concerned teacher called for help.

“It was in the morning. It was around 9:00, and one of the security guards kind of got this look on his face, um, when he was talking on the phone,” said Romero. “The teacher says a student came forward and told them that there was a kid in a classroom with a gun.”

Romero wanted to make sure she had as much information as possible. She, along with three security guards and the assistant principal, went to talk to the student who reported the weapon.

“The bell was about to ring,” Romero explained. “I radioed it in, and we came up with the plan.”

Romero called for backup but knew officers were minutes away, and she couldn’t wait.

“They have this thing called PowerSchool,” said Romero. “It allowed us to … see what the student looked like. Well, PowerSchool hadn’t been updated, and we got a picture of him from the third grade.”

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Luckily, one of the security guards knew who the student was and described him to Romero.

“We open the door, and when we go into the classroom, there’s four other kids that look like that,” Romero explained. “One of the security guards was going to escort everybody out of the classroom and then the rest of us were going to go after this kid… none of them had vests on, none of them had a gun on them. The only radios they have was just in communication with each other… and they didn’t hesitate to go into the classroom with me.”

All four enter the classroom and take advantage of the fact the teen didn’t know they were coming. Romero finds him, tells him to put his hands up as she grabbed him, putting his hands behind his back.

“While I was doing that, one of the security guards was searching him, and then that’s when the gun was located on his waistband,” said Romero. “None of the kids saw it. Nobody knew what was going on when we left the classroom. By the time we went in, to the time we left, it was 58 seconds.”

A police report described the gun as a locked, black and tan Polymer80 with no serial number.

Romero credited her quick actions to being a mother and seeing what happened in Uvalde.

“It’s something that it stays in the past, and it’s not going to happen in my schools,” explained Romero. “Those are my kids. It’s something that I take pride into going to school every day. And I thank the parents for trusting us to protect their babies.”

Romero never found out the true intentions of the student. She explained to KOAT, the teen lawyered up right away. But she took time to talk to him.

“As a school resource officer, you still have to take that time to realize that they’re kids,” said Romero. ” We talked a little bit about the situation. He was sorry. I think after the realization of everything piling up on him, he realized, hey, I made a mistake, and I’m glad that it didn’t happen.”

She explained to the teen that what he did is a big deal, but it shouldn’t stop him from becoming someone better.

Romero offers some advice to parents with the hopes a situation like this never happens again.

“Take the time to go back to the old school ways. Find out who your kid’s friends are, where they live. Talk to them a little bit about what they’re into, who they talk to, how school is going for them,” explained Romero. “

She reminds all parents if they have any issues, questions or concerns to not hesitate to reach out to them.

“We’re there to make sure that they learn from their mistakes and that they continue to be better adults in the future, because ultimately, they’re going to be the ones that are going to be your future coworkers,” said Romero.

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