Gallup-area school scare leads to search for armed suspect

A firearm scare at Rehoboth Christian School in Gallup forced a lockdown, sent students and staff out of the building, and drew city, county and federal officers into a search for Avery Curley after a report of a suicidal threat on April 8. Gallup Police said the first call came in around 1:53 p.m. to 10 Ute Circle, where the school campus was put under emergency restriction as officers tried to track down Curley and determine whether a weapon was involved.

Gallup-area reporting said all students and staff were safely evacuated and later reunited with their families at Red Rock 10, and no injuries were reported. Police said there was no indication of a direct threat toward the school or any staff member, but the presence of a firearm on campus was enough to trigger a response from the Gallup Police Department, the McKinley County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI. The Gallup Police Department says it has 60 commissioned officers, 10 public service officers and 6 civilian employees, a staffing mix that helps explain why a case like this quickly becomes a multi-agency operation.

The investigation widened after a person on the scene told police that Curley had struck them with a vehicle. KRQE reported that Curley, who is 28, was wanted on allegations including aggravated battery and unlawful carrying of a deadly weapon on school premises. Investigators believed he fled before officers arrived, and police later found a rifle and ammunition in his car. By April 24, Gallup Sun reported that Navajo Nation Police had located Curley after Gallup Police issued a search warrant, showing how an incident that began as a school safety alarm became a broader criminal search across jurisdictions.

For Rehoboth Christian School families, the scare landed in the middle of an active school week. The school’s April 2026 calendar shows a Good Friday all-school chapel on April 3, a reminder that classes and campus activities were already moving ahead when the lockdown hit. Rehoboth Christian School says it serves the Rehoboth community with Christian education, and the episode underscored how quickly a reported weapon and mental-health concern can shut down a private campus in McKinley County and send law enforcement scrambling to verify what happened, where the suspect went and whether anyone else was in danger.