THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 26, 1994 TAG: 9410260467
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
A suspended 18-year-old Salem High School student armed with a loaded assault rifle was arrested Tuesday shortly after he drove to the school looking for the principal, police said.
Police spokesman Mike Carey said the student wanted to discuss his suspension with Principal Ramona Stenzhorn but apparently didn't have an appointment with her.
He was arrested by officer J.R. Johnson shortly before 2 p.m. after Johnson stopped the student's car in the parking lot, Carey said.
It wasn't clear late Tuesday why the student, identified as Hakeen T. Sanford, of the 1900 block of Rock Lake Loop, was suspended. Carey said suspended students aren't allowed on school property.
``I'm glad we intercepted this before it got further onto school property,'' Carey said. ``Who knows what we may have prevented.''
Carey said he didn't know why the student had the rifle or what he planned to do with it.
Stenzhorn could not be reached for comment.
This is the third time in a week that an officer on routine patrol has caught a student in the Salem parking lot with a firearm.
Carey said Johnson spotted Sanford driving into the school parking lot and suspected he might be truant. When he stopped the student, Johnson saw a 40-ounce bottle of beer or malt liquor in the car and a pager on the student's hip, Carey said.
Having pagers and alcohol on school property is illegal.
Johnson arrested Sanford and searched the car. He found the military-style rifle - identified as a Squires Bingham Model 16 - in the trunk, Carey said. The police spokesman said it was loaded with 12 rounds.
Because the rifle had a detachable magazine and a flash suppressor, it would be classified as an assault rifle.
The arrest is the third in a week at Salem for weapons charges.
On Oct. 18, two Chesapeake students were arrested at Salem on charges of having concealed and fully loaded semiautomatic handguns. On Thursday, a Salem student was arrested on charges of having an unloaded .45-caliber handgun.
Officers in all three Salem cases arrested the students in the parking lot and before they got into the school.
Seventeen people this school year have been arrested in Virginia Beach because of gun investigations. Among the suspects are a 12-year-old student and an 18-year-old homeless Norfolk man.
Police have confiscated at least 10 firearms since September in or near Virginia Beach schools. It is a felony to bring a firearm onto school property.
Sanford's arrest was at least the eighth time in two years that students have been charged with taking guns to Salem High School or nearby Salem Middle School.
Sanford is being held without bond in the city jail. He is scheduled for arraignment today. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Hakeen Sanford was stopped with a loaded assault rifle at Salem
High. Three students were found with firearms there in the past
week.
Photo of weapon
KEYWORDS: GUN SCHOOL RIFLE STUDENT VIRGINIA BEACH POLICE
SALEM HIGH SCHOOL by CNB