Daniel Borunda

El Paso Times

Five teenagers were arrested after allegedly firing BB guns at El Paso police officers during a drive-by shooting at the Northeast Regional Command Center last week, a police spokesman said Monday.

The boys, who were all 16 years old, were arrested in what police described as a potentially dangerous incident especially because of nationwide tensions following the ambush killings of police in Dallas and Louisiana last month.

No officers were hit in the BB shooting.

"I want to stress the danger they put themselves in," police spokesman Sgt. Enrique Carrillo said. "I would hope a 16-year-old could comprehend that pointing anything that looks like a firearm is a very dangerous thing to do. Given the current state of affairs, it wasn't a very smart thing to do."

The shooting occurred about 5:30 a.m. Thursday as officers who were changing shifts were walking in the parking lot of the police station at 9600 Dyer St., police said.

Four officers were in the parking lot when they saw firearms stick out the window of a car heading north on Dyer Street and heard shots strike the pavement around them, Carrillo said. There were no reported injuries.

Police chased and stopped a 2015 Chevrolet Sonic nearby in the 5900 block of Quail Avenue, Carrillo said. In the car, officers found three pellet guns that look like handguns and a BB rifle that looks like an M-4 rifle.

The boys were arrested on charges of making terroristic threats against public servants and were turned over to juvenile authorities. Their names were not released because of their ages.

"They are lucky it didn’t escalate into a very dangerous situation that they put themselves in," Carrillo said.

Daniel Borunda may be reached at 546-6102; dborunda@elpasotimes.com; @BorundaDaniel on Twitter.