Teenager, 14, surrenders weapon after stand-off, gunshots at Mendoza Province school

A 14-year-old schoolgirl who had come to school with a handgun and fired three shots into the air was transferred to Hospital Santa Rosa in Mendoza Province Wednesday afternoon. 

The teenager had barricaded herself inside the Escuela 4-042 Marcelino H. Blanco in the city of La Paz, Mendoza Province, early in the morning. After five hours, she released her weapon and was recovered safely before being accompanied by her parents and special weapons officers to see a local group of psychiatrists and psychologists, spending the night in hospital.

The teenager’s motives are still unknown at this time. The La Nación daily reported that the girl had shouted for a teacher named Raquel, and that she wouldn’t give herself up until the teacher was presented to her. 

The weapon was supposedly acquired from the father, who was confirmed to be a provincial police officer in nearby San Luis by school administrator Fernando Ubieta, who himself is a distant relative of the adolescent. 

He said that the parents “feel destroyed, and cannot comprehend what happened.”

“[The girl has always had] a more reserved or timid personality. She wouldn’t go out very often,” Ubieta adds; “She was never troubled. This took us by surprise,” he said in conversation with the LN+ news channel.

Videos and images circulating on social media now were posted by classmates of the student when she entered the school carrying the weapon. In the footage, the young girl can be seen from behind, approaching a door, carrying the firearm.

Officials in the provincial government said the rest of the students had been evacuated with the help of police and firefighters, and confirmed no serious injuries had been reported.

Sources from the Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF) confirmed on Thursday that "due to the outcome of public knowledge and considering the age of the minor, the prosecutor has not taken any statements or measures which would imply a criminal investigation against her."

The case was referred to the courts, while medical and support teams continue to work with the teenager and her family.

– TIMES/NA/PERFIL