Three sixth-grade students were detained this week after one of them was found to have a semiautomatic handgun and ammunition in his or her backpack at Vista View Middle School in Fountain Valley, authorities said.
Officers responded to the school Monday afternoon after receiving a report of a student possibly in possession of a firearm, Fountain Valley police said.
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Officers detained the three students and searched their backpacks, police said.
Two were arrested and booked in Orange County juvenile hall, while the third was taken to a hospital on suspected mental health issues, Fountain Valley Lt. Mike Parsons said Wednesday.
The department said the incident was not an active shooter situation, but an isolated event and “there is no ongoing threat to campus safety.”
In a statement provided by the Ocean View School District, Board President Patricia Singer said school administrators were notified that a student may have been in possession of a weapon on campus shortly before dismissal and that administrators called the police department in to investigate.
The investigation took place after school hours and the student body was no longer on campus, Singer said.
“The students involved are not on campus, and the District is pursuing disciplinary action according to the California Education Code, up to and including expulsion,” she said.
How the student came into possession of the weapon was not known.
Police planned to have an increased presence on the campus in the coming days out of an abundance of caution, the department said.