UPDATE: Police respond to school-shooting threat

Police responded to Desert Wind Middle School Thursday afternoon after a teacher was told that a student was possibly planning to shoot other students after school.

Both Desert Wind and Santa Cruz Elementary School went into lockdown for about 25 minutes.

Maricopa Unified School District Superintendent Steve Chestnut said in a press release a gun was found at Desert Wind and two students were arrested. Other students who may have been witnesses were questioned by police.

Ricky Alvarado of the Maricopa Police Department said a student told the teacher that another student was going to “possibly shoot kids after school.”

Police responded to Desert Wind at around 3:40 p.m. and cleared the school.

“Most of the school was empty,” Alvarado said.

The lockdowns were lifted around 4:05 p.m.

Officers are questioning a 13-year-old boy who is an “investigative lead,” Alvarado said. In a classroom, officers found two backpacks. Inside one of the backpacks was a 9mm bullet.

It’s unclear if the backpack with the bullet belonged to the boy being questioned.

Chestnut said both schools will start at the normal time Friday, and counseling services will be available at Desert Wind.