The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office June 9 decided not to file criminal charges against Gunn High School senior Weston Healy – a Los Altos Hills resident – after he allegedly triggered SWAT and the Palo Alto Police Department to respond and arrest him for bringing an “air rifle” on campus May 27.
DA spokeswoman Amy Cornell said the applicable law didn’t warrant charges.
“The airsoft rifle didn’t qualify as a firearm under law,” Cornell said. “The only possible remaining charge was for a hunting knife in a sheath in (the vehicle’s) trunk. … We didn’t end up filing that charge for other factors.”
Weapon charges could have resulted in either a felony three-year maximum prison sentence or a misdemeanor one-year county jail sentence.
Healy’s attorney, Eric Geffon, a Los Altos resident, said Healy had left the airsoft rifle in his trunk a day prior to his arrest. He and his friend, Mitchell (no last name given), drove to a nearby hardware store to purchase supplies for the robotics club in which they were involved. Mitchell came across the rifle while putting supplies in the trunk and was “checking it out in the passenger seat” of Healy’s car when they drove back onto campus.
A city worker spotted Mitchell inspecting the rifle and called the police, who issued a “Code Red” lockdown on campus that eventually lead to Healy’s arrest.
See the full story in the June 16 issue of the Town Crier.
