Farmington student arrested for making weapons in welding class

• The boy is accused of making two hatchets in a welding class at the CATE Center.
• The student was taken into custody by Farmington police around 10:25 a.m.
• He faces felony counts of carrying or making a weapon on a school campus and larceny, along with a misdemeanor charge.

FARMINGTON — Two Farmington schools were placed on lockdown this morning when a juvenile male accused of making two weapons in welding class at the Career and Technology Education (CATE) Center fled school grounds.

A 15-year-old male student was arrested by Farmington Police Department officers and accused of felony counts of carrying or making a weapon on a school campus and larceny, along with a petty misdemeanor count of interference with the educational process, according to spokesperson Georgette Allen.

He is accused of making two hatchets in a welding class at the CATE Center at 901 N. Court Ave., Allen said. A teacher confronted the student about the weapons, and he then fled school grounds.

Police were dispatched to the CATE center around 9:40 a.m., according to a Farmington Police Department press release.

The CATE center was placed on emergency lockdown, and Farmington High School was placed on a preventive lockdown around 9:58 a.m., according to the Farmington Municipal School District and Farmington High School Facebook pages.

Farmington High School was placed on a preventive lockdown because the student's next class was scheduled at the campus, according to Allen.

The student was taken into custody by Farmington police around 10:25 a.m. The lockdowns then were lifted, according to the Farmington High School Facebook page. The student was apprehended at his residence.

The felony larceny charge stems from the student allegedly taking money from his mother so he could flee, Allen said.