Police officer feted for handling of armed man at Tucson school

A Tucson police officer’s heroism dealing with an armed man at a charter school last month was recognized Thursday by the Arizona State School Superintendent.

Officer William Bonanno, working off-duty at Legacy Traditional School’s east campus, 9290 E. Golf Links Road, heeded the call when investigators say Daniel Hollander, 31, breeched the campus.

Hollander was first spotted by “an alert parent,” Tom Horne, the state’s school chief said at a commendation ceremony at Tucson police headquarters downtown.

Bonanno detained Hollander, who was carrying a concealed firearm and a knife, while students and staff were nearby, previous news reports say. Hollander, who faces charges related to weapons violations and interfering with a school, later told investigators he had intent to harm children, police have said.

Bonanno was working at the school thanks to an Arizona Department of Education program that supports schools with trained law enforcement officers.

Officers in the program work at schools that lack a dedicated School Resource Officer.

“A lot of people wouldn’t have the knowledge or courage to act that quickly,” Horne said.

Some schools do not have a school safety officer or school resource officer on their campus. Part of that, Horne said, is because of a “shortage of police.”

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The Arizona Department of Education, under the helm of Horne, began a public-private partnership with law enforcement placement service Off Duty Management in 2023.

Officer Bonanno was placed at the school under this partnership.

The other part, generally, is funding.

Late last year, the Arizona Department of Education released nearly $48 million in for school safety funding. The source of the funds was money was carryover from the previous year.

The $48 million can be used to fund security for schools that request armed campus officers, counselors and social workers. Officers are the priority with any remaining money available for counselors and social workers, the department says.

The funding is awarded in a three-year cycle, Horne said. The next round is in about a year.

Horne said he hopes other schools notice Bonanno’s heroism that day, in part to apply for the next round of funding.

“I think schools will realize we prevented a tragedy by the skin of our teeth.”