Jacksonville student: We hid in closets while teen was outside with gun

A teenager is behind bars after he was arrested in a case that frightened hundreds of students and parents in Jacksonville on Thursday.

Traytavious Martin, 17, was charged with carrying a firearm onto school property. Martin approached Kirby-Smith Middle School with a rifle and was wearing a mask, JSO said.

The action caused two schools to go into lockdown mode. Andrew Robinson Elementary was also placed into lockdown.

A 10-year-old at Andrew Robinson Elementary told Action News Jax that he was scared because  he and his classmates were told to go in a closet and hide.

“It was not a drill, it was real,” Brandon Sanders, a third-grader, said. “They said ’It’s a Code Red.’ We had to go in the closet and hide.”

Martin was reportedly spotted by Whitney Armstrong’s landlord, who lives near the school.

“[He was] dressed in all black [and] looked like a ninja,” Armstrong said. “That could’ve been ended in a very different story.”

'We had to go in the closet and hide' Jacksonville student details scary scene at Andrew Robinson Elementary

JSO says Martin was eventually found in a nearby home and found a loaded AK-47 under a couch. The rifle was loaded with 23 rounds of ammunition.

“I’m majorly relieved that they caught him,” Armstrong said.

Sanders says his teacher is now encouraging him and other students to pray at night.

"My whole family will be safe and I be safe,” Sanders said.

Cox Media Group