On Monday, May 14, Miami High School principal Glen Lineberry received information that two students were planning to shoot attendees at the upcoming eighth grade graduation ceremony.

Lineberry and staff members immediately took action to address the situation.

“We heard about two students who said they were going to enlist their brother’s help to shoot up the ceremony,” Lineberry said. “But it was during lunch hour, so we didn’t want to send out an announcement because we didn’t want to alert the students we were onto them.”

Within moments, the quick-thinking of MHS staff had the students and their backpacks in hand and the Gila County Sheriff’s Office responded immediately.

The GCSO conducted an investigation resulting in the arrest of the students, two juveniles who were charged with threats and intimidation and interfering with an educational institution.

According to Lineberry, response protocol MHS has in place “worked the way it was supposed to,” and he credits the school district’s relationship with the Sherriff’s Office with the quick response to defuse the situation.

“We didn’t want to put something out there because it wasn’t an active situation,” Lineberry said. “But the situation was in hand and there was no impact on the school day.”

According to a GCSO press release, the Sheriff’s Office “is committed to continuing an aggressive stance on school violence and to ensure the safety of students and staff. This is an ongoing investigation and more information may be released as it becomes available.”

Sheriff J. Adam Shepherd extended thanks to the staff of MHS for the prompt response dealing with the situation and quickly reporting it to law enforcement.

“The GCSO has been amazingly supportive and they will provide additional security to the graduation ceremony,” Lineberry concluded.

The Miami High School graduation ceremony will take place on Friday. May 25 at 7 p.m..