Gun incident at Edinburg North High School raises safety concerns

EDINBURG, Texas (ValleyCentral) — An Edinburg student is behind bars as federal authorities say he was caught with a gun and ammunition at Edinburg North High School.

Community members say they are scared of how easily someone could bring a weapon to campus, but the police say there was never any danger to students.

Community members like Melony Hernandez are stunned.

“Keep your weapons out of school," Hernandez said. "If you have your own, leave it at home. You come to school to learn, to talk to your friends, and hang out with your friends.”

She also says incidents like these remind people of the importance of safety in schools.

“If you see something, say something because if you don’t, you're putting everyone else’s lives at risk. If that was me, I would have said something as well," Hernandez said.

Mirtha Enriquez tells ValleyCentral the situation brought back memories of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.

She lived in the community when the shooting happened.

"It's something tremendous because imagine what happened in Uvalde? A young guy who was sad and only god knows what he was thinking, and look at everything that happened there," Enriquez said. "Of course, it can happen here too, with us. It's terrible. I lived through what happened in Uvalde, and it made me very sad because I live there and here too."

According to federal criminal documents, 18-year-old Kinzey Lira brought a pistol with a loaded magazine to school on Monday and Tuesday.

While the weapon wasn't loaded, Lira also had a magazine loaded with ten rounds of ammunition.

Edinburg CISD Police Chief Ricardo Perez says the weapon was found thanks to a report from a student.

“The student was observed in a portable building outside of the main building, so once class is in session the building is secured, so one of the students texted another student inside the building of what he had seen and that student inside the building automatically reported it to our school administrator who then informed our campus police," Perez said.

Perez says Lira was not near his backpack when it was seized, and there was never a threat to students, so a lockdown was not needed.

However, Perez did report the incident to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) after he noticed the weapon was modified.

He adds that Lira has been cooperative and told arresting federal agents that he bought the weapon a week ago.

“He assured me that at no time did he threaten anyone," the police chief added. "He had no intentions of hurting anyone."

The teen is facing a state charge of unlawfully possessing a weapon at a school, a third-degree felony.

He appeared before a judge earlier Wednesday and was issued a bail of $100,000.

Perez says he has already spoken to several parents to alleviate any fears.

“We're doing all we can to keep our kids safe," Perez said.

Lira could face up to 20 years behind bars.