Arizona’s education chief Tom Horne made his way to Tucson this past Thursday, extending recognition to a school resource officer for the arrest of an armed man at Legacy Traditional School. The Tucson Police Department’s William Bonanno, according to a report by AZPM, apprehended an individual who, armed with a knife and a gun, exhibited threatening behavior while engaging in a conversation with himself.
Just two weeks into his role at the charter school, Bonanno’s intervention prevented what could have been a harrowing incident. Superintendent Horne highlighted the serendipity of the school receiving an officer from a recent funding opportunity. “We happened to find some extra money and invited other schools to apply. This charter school applied and a number of other schools applied. And the charter school was the only one who acted quickly,” Horne explained.
Speaking on the necessity of school resource officers, Horne stated that the incident at the charter school serves as evidence that every school ought to have an officer present on campus. “What happened at this charter school is an illustration of that,” Horne told AZPM. He recounted how a parent’s alert to the police officer spurred immediate action. “A parent said to the police officer, ‘there’s someone acting strange,’ and he went over. And because he’s experienced and brave, he realized he had to act quickly and couldn’t ask for backup.” Bonanno’s background in law enforcement contributed to the rapid containment of the situation…