A Queen Creek junior high student told administrators he had made a switchblade on a 3D printer after classmates saw him handling it in class, according to school records described by the Queen Creek Tribune.
The April 2025 incident at Casteel Junior High involved seventh-grade girls who noticed a boy with the knife. The boy was quoted in the incident report as saying, “I showed my buddy my 3D-printed switchblade.” He later said he printed it because he was bored after his parents removed access to his Spotify account.
Records also showed two Scottsdale school incidents that month. In one, a fifth-grade student took a 3D-printed butterfly knife, described as a folding pocketknife, to an elementary campus.
Three days later, a sixth-grade gifted student at a middle school was found with an object made on a 3D printer that district records said looked like both a box cutter and a firearm, along with a small plastic toy knife and a bag of other printed objects. The records said that student also had a large amount of cash from selling items at school.
The Tribune reported that none of the reviewed Valley incidents resulted in injuries, and that the districts did not send notices to the broader school communities. The cases raised questions for administrators about how to label 3D-printed objects, what discipline applies and when families are informed.
Joshua Friedman, Scottsdale Unified's director of safety and security, said incidents involving a gun or simulated gun can bring stronger consequences and that school resource officers are brought in for cases such as water guns or Nerf guns, followed by a notice to parents.
