West Mesa student accused of bringing gun to school will remain in jail ahead of trial

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A judge ruled that a teen who allegedly brought a gun to West Mesa High School last week won’t be going home.

18-year-old Omar Martinez appeared virtually before a judge Wednesday. Martinez was arrested by APS police officers last Thursday after the school received a tip that Martinez may have a gun on him.

“They approached him in the classroom and they tell him to put his hands in the air and they see that he has a gun in his waistband,” said John Kloss, state prosecutor. “It turns out to be a Glock handgun with a magazine that has 15 bullets, plus there’s an additional bullet in the chamber.”

Even more bullets were found in Martinez’s backpack, but his lawyer argues he never intended to hurt anyone.

“Even though he had a gun, he wasn’t threatening, he’s not a gang member,” said Adam Oakey, the defense attorney in the case. “He’s not a violent kid, nothing like that. He just made a stupid mistake of being really stupid, your Honor.”

However, the state argued that it didn’t matter what Martinez intended or didn’t intend to do with the gun – just having it at school put everyone in danger.

“Your Honor, it’s hard to think of a more dangerous concept than having guns in school, especially when it’s somebody like a student, an 18-year-old student,” Kloss said.

In the end, Judge Lucy Solimon sided with the state.

“I have to consider the threat he poses,” Judge Solimon said. “Even if I look at it as he made a terrible, not very smart decision in that incident, the danger it poses and potentially, if he makes another decision like this, I’m putting people in danger. If you have kids, you do not want Mr. Martinez sitting with a Glock next to your child in the classroom.”

With that, Martinez was ordered to be held in the Metropolitan Detention Center without bond until his trial.