Union Student Arrested For Taking Gun To Backyard Bowl

By Jeffrey Smith, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- The fights at the Washington - East Central game were not the only bad news from Friday night's football action. A teenage student was arrested during the Jenks-Union game for bringing a handgun into TU's Chapman Stadium.

Tulsa police say the gun fell from the pants pocket of a 17-year-old male student from Union as he was fighting with two other men. The weapon was a .22 caliber semi automatic handgun, and police say the student had just been released from a juvenile detention center the day before.

No shots were fired, and it is unclear if the gun was loaded.

Security officers broke up the fight. Tulsa Public Schools requires a minimum one year suspension for bringing a gun to a school event.

"They bring guns for the wrong reasons," said Chief Gary Rudick of TPS Campus Police.

"Thinking I'm going to bring a gun to show my friends, to show how tough I am, that I'm not going to let anybody bully me. Then they end up with a year-long suspension and a criminal record. They've just got to recognize that the consequences are tremendous."

Tulsa police arrested the 17-year-old on a firearm complaint. No one else was arrested during last night's Backyard Bowl.