ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Parents, teachers and students across Central Florida are on high alert after a series of threats against several schools and guns found on campus.
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At least 10 teens have been arrested in Central Florida this week relating to threats or guns at school.
One of the most recent scares was at Boone High School where a loaded gun was found in a student’s backpack Friday.
Eyewitness News spoke with the woman who says her daughter found the loaded gun.
She did not want to be identified.
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She says Friday morning, one of her daughter’s classmates said her backpack was heavy.
She says her daughter later saw the handle of this gun inside the bag, a 9mm loaded handgun.
She says her daughter reported it to staff and law enforcement immediately jumped into action.
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Orlando Police arrested the female student that was carrying the gun and also 19-year-old Lovensky Cesalien, who is a 12th-grade student at the school.
OPD says the 19-year-old allegedly told the younger female student to put the loaded gun in the bag. The parent of the student who found the gun says she picked her daughter up from school shortly after she found the weapon.
“I gave her the most tightest bear hug. I think I gave her in years,” the woman said “To get that call from my child, you know, I was just like, my God, you know, because now that you don’t think it will ever happen to you, but you don’t think that your child is going to be on the side two feet away from a loaded weapon. So it was it was eye opening, heartbreaking and gut wrenching all in one.”
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With all that’s happened in the last two weeks between the Georgia shooting, the several school threats, and now guns found in schools, she said all she can think of is the “what ifs.” What could happen? She says this just hit too close to home.
She says her daughter has not returned to school since this happened, and frankly, she says, she’s on the fence on letting her return. She’s considering homeschooling.
“That’s traumatic for someone. I want you to get an education. I want you to get a safe education. I want the school to take accountability,” the woman said.
She says this event should be the catalyst for change. She wants to see metal detectors in school to prevent this from happening again.
“The district as a whole needs to find funding to be able to properly protect our children,” the woman said.
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