Chandler police arrested a ninth-grade Hendrix Junior High School student Tuesday night on suspicion of pointing a handgun at a security officer on campus after school Monday.
Police said the student was not armed at the time of the arrest about 8:30 p.m. outside a Chandler residence.
Detective Rob Krautheim said investigators later recovered a black BB handgun in an alley near the school.
Krautheim said the suspect, 15-year-old Derrick Buford of Chandler, was taken to the Southeast Juvenile Detention Facility in Mesa on suspicion of aggravated assault, interference with an educational facility, disorderly conduct and weapons misconduct.
Juvenile Court Judge Sheila A. Madden ruled in a detainment hearing Wednesday that Buford will remain in state custody until his next hearing Feb. 3. Buford had been truant from Hendrix Junior High and listed as a runaway for more than a month before the arrest.
Hendrix principal Emma Walker sent a letter home to parents Tuesday afternoon informing them of the incident. The school also circulated a follow-up letter Wednesday letting parents know the suspect had been detained.
