Gang Crackdown Leads to 6th Arrest at Antelope Valley High : School: Lancaster youths are suspected of extorting money from students and bringing a gun onto campus.

A two-week crackdown on gang activity at Antelope Valley High School has resulted in the arrest of six students who belong to a Lancaster street gang suspected of extorting money from students, threatening a security guard and bringing a gun onto campus, authorities said Thursday.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies arrested a 17-year-old student at the school Wednesday on suspicion of threatening a school guard. It was the sixth arrest since deputies and school officials began the gang investigation March 9, when two students were arrested for bringing a gun onto campus.

“There has been a definite change in the tone and climate of the campus since these students have been removed,” said Principal Yvonne Healey.

All of those arrested were juveniles and have been released pending Juvenile Court hearings, officials said.

The focus on gang activity on Antelope Valley streets and in schools intensified after the shooting death of an Antelope Valley High School senior in January, the area’s first gang-related death. Efforts to combat the problem have included beefed-up sheriff’s patrols and a tough new anti-gang dress code in the schools that drew criticism from some students.

Authorities said the first two youths arrested at Antelope Valley High were admitted members of a Lancaster gang. They were seen by school officials with a semiautomatic pistol they intended to sell to another student after stealing the gun during a burglary, police said. The 15-year-old and 16-year-old have been charged with burglary, carrying a concealed handgun and bringing a gun onto a school campus.

Deputies learned that other members of the gang had allegedly extorted money from at least two classmates, officials said. Three students--a 14-year-old and two 16-year-olds--were arrested last week and charged with robbery in connection with those incidents, which occurred both on and off campus and netted about $40, authorities said.

The extortion involved implied rather than outright threats of violence and is considered robbery, said Deputy Chris Haymond.

“Basically, they were pressuring kids into giving them money,” Haymond said.

The arrest Wednesday resulted from an incident two weeks ago in which the suspected gang member threatened a school security guard during an argument, authorities said. They said the investigation of the gang is continuing.

Three of the youths arrested are white and three are black, authorities said. Law enforcement officials have said that the multi-ethnic composition of Antelope Valley gangs is unique. In other parts of Los Angeles County, gang membership tends to be divided along ethnic and racial lines.

Five of the six students face expulsion because they are charged with committing crimes on campus, Healey said.