15-Year-Old Facing Felony Gun Charges After Scare At Homecoming Despite Police Not Finding A Gun
Are these charges based on a rumor?
Orlando Sentinel A 15-year-old student was arrested Sunday night at Oviedo High School after threatening to use a gun he had brought on school property during a homecoming dance.
The teen, whose name has not been released, is facing charges of aggravated assault and possession of a weapon on school property, despite no shots being fired at the dance and police not being able to find a gun on campus.
Authorities searched the school with metal detectors and also looked in storm drains and gutters, but were unable to locate the supposed weapon.
The Oviedo High School gun scare is still being investigated.
“We don’t have a gun, one has not been found,” Chief Dale Coleman said. “Based on witness statements, we believe he had a gun and, in one case, pointed it at somebody.”
The student is also facing charges of trespassing, disrupting a school function, improper exhibition of a firearm or dangerous weapon, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a minor.
The teeanger had been suspended from school and was not allowed to attend the dance or be on campus, but had snuck into the homecoming event that was being held in the school’s courtyard as a COVID-19 safety precaution.
The student was reportedly spotted by administrators, and was escorted off the campus, but later returned to the school.
Authorities were called to the school after receiving a call about “an armed subject and possible shots fired,” before being given a description of the teenager.
Students attending the dance were swiftly evacuated from the campus, and parents were told to pick their children up from a church that was about a half-mile away.
“The students responded upon hearing the rumor by exiting the campus quickly. As a result of students exiting so quickly, the dance ended. They should be commended for their fast thinking and quick exit. I am so sorry this interrupted their Homecoming Dance,” the principal of the high school wrote in a statement.
Witnesses claim the suspect had a gun.
Despite not finding a gun, there had been two witnesses who told police that they had seen the suspect with a firearm at the dance.
One female student told investigators that the student had approached her and three other girls with the gun in his hand and said, “I’m gonna light this b---- up.”
Another witness told police that they thought the gun the student had shown them was fake as the student had shown fake weapons in the past as a way to garner attention.
Other recounts of the night allege that the student appeared to be under the influence of drugs, and was “freaking out.”
Many of the students who saw the teenager with the gun, grabbed their friends and started to run once they noticed him pull the weapon out.
A mother of one of the students in attendance at the dance said that she saw her daughter running from the suspect.
Her daughter also told police that the suspect had appeared drunk and stood out from the rest of the students at the dance as he was wearing Crocs and sweatpants.
Once the suspect had been put into custody, he had denied having a gun once being confronted by police, and also denied having a gun earlier at the dance.
Oviedo High School has an enrollment of about 2,300, but recorded 627 absent students the following Monday compared to 188 the week before.
The school was also reported to have brought in extra law enforcement on their campus to keep their students as well as their families more at ease.
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Follow her on Instagram.