LAKE CITY, Fla. — A joke about a gun landed a 14-year-old middle school student in police custody in Lake City.
Lake City Middle School was placed on a lockdown on Monday morning after students reported hearing a classmate say that they had lost their handgun. The student was seen searching their backpack with a flashlight.
Once the school’s principal and resource deputy were notified, the student was removed from class and questioned.
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According to the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, the student admitted that they had made the statements as a joke, and that the joke had gone too far.
The teenager was charged with making a false report of a weapon on campus and disruption of a school function. The student was taken into custody by the Department of Juvenile Justice.
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The Sheriff’s Office released the following statement about the incident:
“Making any statement — even in jest — about a firearm on school grounds is a criminal offense that carries serious, life-altering consequences. A single careless remark forced an entire school into lockdown, disrupted the education of every student on campus, diverted critical law enforcement resources, and caused unnecessary fear and trauma to students, staff, and families."
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