PHOENIX — The Phoenix Police Department has opened an investigation after security employees at Maryvale High School said someone attempted to bring a box cutter onto the campus earlier this week.
According to the Phoenix Union High School District (PXU), an Arizona lawmaker and another woman attempted to “circumvent” the Maryvale High School safety system on Monday, just days after a deadly stabbing at the campus.
The district said in a statement that State Representative Lydia Hernandez (D-District 24) and another woman, who the district believes to be her adult daughter, “caused a disruption” by attempting to circumvent the school’s safety system by “knowingly bringing an unauthorized weapon onto campus.” Hernandez has denied the allegations and said her daughter was not on the campus.
“The Phoenix Police Department is now gathering information and working closely with school staff to further look into the incident and ensure the safety and security of students, staff and the community,” the police department wrote in a statement Thursday afternoon.
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According to the district, Hernandez and the other woman both went through the metal detectors, with a boxcutter being found in the other woman’s bag.
Hernandez told the staff that she was “testing the weapon detection systems” while she recorded the interaction on a cell phone, according to the district’s statement. Both of the women were escorted out of the office and asked to leave the campus multiple times.
District officials say they are reviewing evidence, video surveillance and talking to witnesses.
“We will pursue all legal options, including pressing charges and trespassing the individuals from coming back to our campuses,” the statement read, in part.
In a phone interview with ABC15, Rep. Hernandez refuted all the claims made in the statement, including the claim of the other woman being her daughter, adding that there was no boxcutter.
When ABC15 reached out to a PXU spokesperson about Hernandez denying the claims, they referred back to the statement.
The incident comes a week after a Maryvale student died after being stabbed during a fight between two young men. Maryvale High School student Chris Aguilar, 16, was charged as an adult with second-degree murder. According to witness statements, the victim, Michael Montoya II, was believed to have robbed Aguilar of a firearm the day before.
In an interview with ABC15, Hernandez called the district’s statement “ridiculous” and added that she is going to request the school’s security video.
She said she was on campus that day to support parents, who she alleges were being detained by security officers in the front office.
“I was not testing the weapons system. I walked in there because I was asked to support a mother.”
She said she walked into the school and went through security with her purse. She said she was wearing her legislative “button” and introduced herself.
“To my knowledge, nobody had a box cutter. I think we would have been told,” she told ABC15.
Hernandez said school officials are targeting her for retaliation because she was trying to help parents who are upset over the stabbing.
Hernandez said her daughter was “never with her” at school that day.
Hernandez also said she did not record the incident.
“I have a new iPhone that I’m learning to maneuver. I did not record a thing.”
A Phoenix council member took to social media to express her feelings and call for Hernandez to resign.