SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Lake Brantley High School in Altamonte Springs was placed under a Code Red lockdown around 8:30 a.m. Friday after a student was found on campus with what appeared to be a weapon, school officials said.
Officials said three students were detained after a Snapchat video showed one of them holding a weapon, which turned out to he a BB gun, according to Altamonte Springs police.
Police identified the three juvenile students as Letty Vazquez Rodriguez, Mariah Moran and Saige Redifer.
Officers said all three are facing multiple charges, including electronic communication threats to commit a mass shooting or act of terrorism, possession of a gun on school property and providing false information to law enforcement.
The lockdown at the school was lifted around 9:30 a.m.
Students who spoke with Channel 9 said they feared for the worst after seeing the video, and that they recognized that it was taken inside the school because of the tiling in the video.
“It honestly just baffles me that someone would bring a gun to school like that,” said senior Roland Lopez.
Principal Brian Blasewitz said someone reported the Snapchat video to a hotline and a school resource officer was notified.
“I don’t know how our students felt, but I never felt unsafe because the process itself worked,” said Blasewitz. “Everybody did their job, remained calm, and the students did an amazing job.”
He said many students left campus after the lockdown was lifted, but otherwise the school operated as business as usual. He said crisis counselors were also available for those who needed them.
See the principal’s full statement below:
Watch an Altamonte Springs police officer discuss the incident below:
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See video of the scene below:
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See a map of the school below: