Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Teen arrested with rifle at Las Vegas high school campus

Updated Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012 | 6:02 p.m.

Click to enlarge photo

Jake Benton Howell

A teenage former student was arrested today on the campus of the Northwest Career and Technical Academy after authorities found an unloaded rifle in his car.

Capt. Ken Young of the Clark County School District Police said a parent alerted authorities to the gun, which was visible in the back seat of a car owned by Jake Howell, 18. Officers found ammunition in the car as well as several small knives.

Young said that there's no evidence Howell, who was apparently at the northwest Las Vegas high school visiting friends, was planning anything and that he made no threats.

The SKS semi-automatic rifle was not registered, although in Nevada a gun over 12 inches in length doesn't require registration.

Howell has been charged with four counts of possessing a dangerous weapon at a school.

In the wake of a deadly school shooting last week in Newtown, Conn., Young says Clark County police checked several hundred rumors about threats in the nation's fifth-largest school district.

Police also stepped up their presence Friday at area high school campuses.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

CORRECTION: The SKS is not an automatic weapon and is not considered an assault rifle. | (December 22, 2012)

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