MORE: Brief lockdown at Putnam County elementary school
A local elementary school student is facing punishment for bringing a pellet gun to school.
Tuesday, Ochwilla Elementary School in Putnam County went on lockdown after the fake firearm was found in a student’s backpack.
The incident was a concern for parents like Daniel Adkins, who said he was given misinformation about the incident from the school’s staff.
Adkins said as he was dropping off his son at school, an employee told him the lockdown was all a drill, while another said the gun found may have been real.
“Once you say the word gun, you can’t retract that, you can’t take that back,” Adkins said.
The Putnam County School District said no one was harmed or threatened, and that the student was punished though representatives wouldn’t say how.
Action News Jax brought Adkins’ concerns to Superintendent Rick Surrency.
“If people thought they were not informed, then I understand that and I apologize, but we want to make sure we get it right before we contact the parents,” Surrency said.
Surrency is backing a plan to arm certain faculty and staff who volunteer. He said it’s to prevent another mass school shooting like we saw in Parkland.
Action News Jax asked if Tuesday’s incident worries him, as it could create a situation where an armed school employee encounters a student with a fake gun.
“We’re talking about someone who might try to enter a school and actually harm somebody, and this was not the case,” Surrency said.
Still, Adkins doesn't like it.
“[School staff] having guns, acting as irrational as they seemed to be acting [Tuesday] morning, it’s just not a good idea,” Adkins said.
Adkins said he pulled his son out of school Tuesday, and he plans to file a complaint.