Gainesville student arrested for bringing loaded handgun to school

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) - A 16-year-old boy faces charges after school resource officers found a loaded handgun in his bookbag on Tuesday morning.

Gainesville Police Department officers say another student reported to SRO that a classmate regularly brings a gun to Gainesville High School (GHS).

Officers pulled the boy out of his homeroom class to speak to him in the hallway and he ran. SRO found a loaded 9mm handgun in his backpack that he left behind.

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Officers caught the student and charged him with illegally carrying a firearm, bringing a firearm on school grounds, and resisting an officer.

The student told officers he found the gun in his neighborhood and brought it to school for self-protection.

“We are very proud of the student who reported the weapon to our SRO,” stated GHS Principal Dan Ferguson in a letter to parents.

School district officials confirm, per state law, students in possession of a firearm at school must be recommended for expulsion.

“Please remind your students that they should immediately report anything suspicious to an adult on campus. School is no place for a weapon of any kind, and students who bring them on campus face serious consequences from the school district and law enforcement,” Ferguson added.

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