School administrators at an Alachua County elementary school immediately notified law enforcement on Wednesday afternoon after a teacher found a loaded firearm inside a first-grade student’s backpack.
At approximately 1 p.m., Meadowbrook Elementary School administrators contacted the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office deputy who is currently assigned to the school as its School Resource Deputy. According to ACSO, a first-grade teacher had located a handgun within the backpack of one of his students.
The deputy responded to the front office and confirmed that the item found inside the backpack was a loaded handgun. ACSO stated that the firearm was “immediately made safe,” and it was stored in a secure location away from the school.
The deputy conducted a thorough investigation that revealed a “set of accidental, yet very frightening chain of events” that led to this incident, according to ACSO.
During the investigation, the deputy learned that the first-grade student who possessed the backpack containing the firearm had not brought any type of backpack to school “in months.” The student’s teacher had made a request to the parent that the student bring a backpack or some type of bag to school so items could be brought home.
On Wednesday, the student’s mother told the student to go into the trunk of their vehicle to retrieve an old and tattered backpack. ACSO stated that the mother was identified as the owner of the handgun, but the firearm was normally stored within the glove compartment or under the driver’s seat when the vehicle was occupied.
According to ACSO, the student’s mother had loaned the vehicle to a family member who was uncomfortable with a handgun being inside the vehicle. That family member proceeded to place the firearm inside of a pocket within the backpack, which was located in the trunk of the vehicle, and the family member failed to disclose this information to the mother of the student.
The family member told investigators that they were unaware that the old backpack belonged to the student, since the family member believed that the student had “newer and nicer backpacks” at home.
The student’s mother was unaware that her child had carried a backpack containing a handgun into the school. The teacher had retrieved the student’s backpack to place items inside it, and that was when the firearm was discovered.
“Based upon all information obtained during this investigation, as well as consult with the State Attorney’s Office, no criminal charges are being filed. A notification regarding this incident was made to the Department of Children and Family Services for further follow-up,” stated the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office on its Facebook page.
Alachua County Sheriff Clovis Watson, Jr. expressed his thanks to the observant teacher and school administrators who “identified a serious situation and immediately enacted the notification of law enforcement to ensure the safety of everyone at the school.”
ACSO concluded the social media post by stating, “While this situation appears to be a terrible accident, we want to impress upon our community the desperate need for safe and responsible gun ownership, as this incident could have had a far worse outcome.”