4 students arrested at Santa Clarita’s Hart High after one allegedly brought gun to school

Four students at Hart High School in Santa Clarita were arrested this week after one allegedly brought a semi-automatic handgun to school and a tipster informed authorities after seeing the weapon on social media.

An anonymous tip led to the arrest on Wednesday of two males and two females, all underage students at the school, according to officials at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Santa Clarita station.

Deputies found one of the students had possession of the handgun while another had ammunition, authorities said. Three of the students were arrested for possession after allegedly passing the gun among themselves, sheriff’s officials said. The fourth student was arrested on suspicion of vandalism and possession of a weapon off-campus. Three were taken to juvenile detention, while the fourth suspect was released to a guardian or parent.

The school received an anonymous “Text-A-Tip” report to a student care line that a student possibly possessed a firearm on campus, based on images on social media seen by the tipster, authorities said.

Sheriff’s Deputy Javier Guzman, the school special assigned resources officer, conducted the investigation that led to the suspects.

“We are so grateful to the individual who saw something and used the Student Care Line to say something,” Hart Union School District said in a statement issued in response to media inquiries. “It is proactive, pre-emptive and proof that early intervention works. We are stronger as a community when we work together.”

The discovery of the gun on campus is all the more alarming because the Santa Clarita community is where a 16-year-old student at Saugus High School opened fire in 2019 on the campus quad, killing two teenagers and wounding three others before turning the gun on himself. Nathaniel Berhow used an untraceable ghost gun for the attack.