YORK — An 18-year-old York man is under arrest after police say he brought a gun onto the grounds of a York City school and used it to threaten a student with whom he had an earlier altercation.
Luis Ja Rivera-Alvarado, of the 100 block of West Jackson Street, displayed the handgun, a 9mm Glock that had been reported stolen, as he looked into the window of the cafeteria at Goodridge Academy on Thursday, May 31, police say.
He is charged with carrying a firearm without a license, receiving stolen property, and making terroristic threats.
According to police, Rivera-Alvarado got into a verbal dispute with a student at the school at about 11:30 a.m., according to the criminal complaint. After staff at the school told Rivera-Alvarado, who is not a student there, to leave school property, he allegedly made a threatening remark to students and staff.
Students were then directed inside the school. While they were inside, the criminal complaint says, Rivera-Alvarado was seen peering through a window into the school’s cafeteria, where he allegedly displayed a handgun to the students inside, police say.
The York City School District’s police chief summoned York City Police and provided a description of Rivera-Alvarado, who had left school grounds by then. Police observed a man matching the description walking north through a parking lot toward West Market Street, and took him into custody, according to the criminal complaint.
A search of Rivera-Alvardado produced the 9mm Glock handgun, which had 27 rounds in the magazine, according to the criminal complaint. The gun had been reported stolen, police say.
Rivera-Alvarado allegedly told police he did not know the gun was stolen. He told police he was homeless, and that he had purchased the gun by selling food stamps, according to the criminal complaint. He would not identify who sold him the gun, police say.
The fight at the school began when one of the students called Rivera-Alvarado a “snitch,” according to police. When asked if he was affiliated with any gangs, police say, Rivera-Alvarado allegedly responded “something like that.”
Rivera-Alvarado was arraigned on the charges and is currently in York County Prison in lieu of $250,000 bail.
