PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. — Four students were arrested and charged with possession of a firearm on a school campus, leading to Palatka Junior-Senior High School shutting down on Monday, says the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office.
Due to the students’ age, Action News Jax will not disclose their names or their booking photos.
According to the sheriff’s office, the school was shut down after a student overheard several students discussing having a gun on campus and reported it to the school administration.
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Based on the investigation, the students texted about fixing a gun after discussing it being broken. All four allegedly passed the gun around amongst eachother. They were removed from class, and the gun was soon located. The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office says there was only one gun.
Deputies say one of the students had a THC vape in his pocket and was also charged with introduction of contraband into a jail facility and possession of marijuana.
“When we have a school still reeling from the death of one of their own from an accidental shooting by another classmate, these four have to bring a gun on campus,” Sheriff H.D. ‘Gator’ DeLoach said.
“Clearly, they have no clue about the seriousness of playing with a firearm, and that is exactly what they are doing – they are playing at being adults and playing with something that can kill one of them or an innocent bystander. No matter what, they now have a little bit of time to think if this is the path they want to go down and follow them for the rest of their lives. They disrupted school, caused chaos, and for what purpose? We’ve already seen this play out badly in our community with the loss of a promising athlete. I’m sure the friend of Lawrence Evans wishes every day he could bring him back.”
All four were charged with possession of a firearm on a school campus, a third-degree felony, and disruption of a school function, a misdemeanor.
The Putnam County School District commended the student who reported and the school administrators, along with law enforcement, in a post on social media.
The sheriff’s office says all four were booked into the Putnam County Jail and were taken to the Department of Juvenile Justice in Volusia. This is an ongoing investigation.
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