Tom Horne Superintendent | Arizona Department of Education
Daniel Hollander was arrested in January after entering an east Tucson school armed with a gun and knife. He was confronted and arrested by Tucson Police Officer William Bonanno, who had recently been assigned as the school safety officer. According to statements made during the case, Hollander said he intended to kill children and make them famous.
At the sentencing in Pima County Superior Court, it was revealed that the prosecutor recommended a sentence of one year in prison followed by ten years of probation for Hollander. The judge increased the sentence to 18 months but stated that he could not impose a longer term due to the prosecutor’s recommendation.
“In the sentencing at Pima County Superior Court today it came out that the prosecutor had recommended only one year in prison followed by 10 years of probation for someone who went into a school with a gun and a knife threatening to kill 20 students. The judge increased it to 18 months but could not do more in view of the prosecutor’s recommendation. As a former Attorney General, I know that the public is entitled to be protected from people like this defendant. Probation is not perfect. If this individual has a bad day, he could go into a school and kill students. In my opinion, the prosecutor’s recommendation should have been at least 20 years in prison to protect our children.
In this case, we avoided that tragedy by the skin of our teeth. Tucson Police Officer William Bonanno was the safety officer on campus. He was hired just two weeks before the incident. He is experienced and brave, and after being alerted to a problem on campus, checked an open door, and found the would-be perpetrator with a gun and a knife. Because of his experience and courage, he did not wait for back up but immediately arrested the individual.
I have increased the number of police officers in our schools in the last two years from 190 to 585. Just prior to this incident, we found some unused funds and reopened opportunities to apply for grants, which is how funds were available to hire Officer Bonanno.”
The statement highlights recent efforts by state officials to expand police presence in schools across Arizona by increasing officers from 190 to 585 over two years.
Alerts Sign-up