Gun on West Mesa campus leads to two-year probation

Apr. 12—A former West Mesa High School student who brought a handgun onto campus last year was released from custody this week and sentenced to two years of probation.

Omar Martinez, 19, pleaded guilty last month to two felony firearms charges for bringing a loaded Glock .40-caliber handgun to the school on Oct. 5, court records show.

Albuquerque Public Schools spokeswoman Monica Armenta said Martinez was subsequently expelled from school and could not return until January 2025. A district rule requires expulsion for one year for any student found carrying a gun on campus, she said.

APS police officers entered a West Mesa classroom and ordered Martinez to put his hands in the air after they received a tip that he had a gun, according to a criminal complaint filed in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court.

The officers saw a handgun in Martinez's waistband and took the student into custody, the complaint said. The gun had a magazine with 15 bullets and an additional round in the chamber, it said.

Officers found 22 additional .40-caliber rounds in the student's backpack, the complaint said.

The arrest followed a report from the mother of a West Mesa student who said that a gun had been stolen from her home after a group of West Mesa students visited, said Nancy Laflin, a spokeswoman for the 2nd Judicial District Attorney's Office. Martinez acknowledged that he had taken the gun from the woman's home, Laflin said.

Martinez pleaded guilty to unlawfully carrying a deadly weapon on a school premises and a second count of carrying a handgun by a person under 19.

A prosecutor asked a judge to sentence Martinez to 18 months of incarceration — the maximum penalty permitted under his plea agreement.

State District Judge Bruce Fox on Wednesday sentenced Martinez to two years probation and ordered him released on his own recognizance after serving six months in custody.