Curtis N. Nguyen, 15, and Zack L. Borba, 14, were taken into police custody.

Both are freshmen at Classen School of Advanced Studies, 1901 N Ellison, where a small fire in a locker room forced the school to be evacuated on Thursday afternoon.

An assistant principal told police he saw Nguyen and another student run out of the gym moments before a fire alarm sounded, the police report states.

When Nguyen’s backpack was searched in the principal’s office, police found a Swiss Army knife, another knife with a black handle and two electronic devices used for wireless Internet, according to the police report.

Nguyen faces additional complaints of possession of a weapon on school property and possession of stolen property.

“He has not been convicted,” said a woman on Friday who identified herself as Nguyen’s mother but would not give her name. “People are wrongly accused of things all the time. We do not need his name slandered because of an accusation.”

Borba’s mother, Eva Arroyo, said she hadn’t spoken with her son about the incident and did not know the details of his arrest.

“Sometimes good kids make bad mistakes,” Arroyo said. “I just don’t think it’s fair that this will stick with them for the rest of their lives. He’s a very good kid.”

Arroyo said her son hasn’t been convicted of anything and this is the first time he’s been in trouble.

“He’s an honor student … and a Boy Scout,” Arroyo said.

The janitor who was sent to the hospital was released and able to return to work the same day, said Tierney Tinnin, spokeswoman for Oklahoma City Public Schools. She said very minor damage was done to some athletic equipment in the locker room.

Tinnin said the students will be disciplined according to the district’s student code of conduct.

“Because of the strong relationship that the teachers and the students have, they were able to find the alleged folks within 30 minutes,” Tinnin said. “It shows the relationship they have with the students that they were able to come to them with what they have seen or heard.”

An assistant principal told police both of the students’ names were given to him as the people who started the fire, the report says.

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