The Los Angeles County Probation Department said in a statement Friday night that a gun was found at around 10 a.m. at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey. The department said the firearm was found in “an area only accessible to staff.”
“No youth had access to it, and nobody was injured,” the department said in a statement emailed to LAist.
The L.A. Times reported that the firearm was found in a location that youth could access, citing anonymous sources.
In May, the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) gave L.A. County 60 days to transfer nearly 300 incarcerated youths to Los Padrinos juvenile hall in Downey after it found facilities in Sylmar and near downtown L.A. to be unsuitable.
The L.A. County Probation Department said earlier this week it had completed the move ahead of schedule. In a statement on Wednesday, Guillermo Viera Rosa, the interim probation chief, said the county had gone “from Mission Impossible to mission accomplished.”
“This is absolutely unacceptable. Every single person entering our juvenile facilities is supposed to be searched by security, including all staff and visitors. If this current security company is unable to do that, we should find a new one,” said L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn in an emailed statement.
The Probation Department said that, as of Friday afternoon at around 5pm, the facility remained on lockdown as local law enforcement worked on investigating.
