Loaded guns found at Parkland school belong to principal: report

Athina Morris
·2 min read
7

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Two loaded guns belonging to a Florida charter school principal were accidentally brought onto the school’s campus Thursday morning, WPLG reported.

Somerset Parkland Academy school representatives sent a letter to parents saying a closed box containing two firearms was left unattended inside a locked room in the school. The box was found by a school resource officer and turned over to detectives, the report said.

Investigators later determined the weapons belonged to the school’s principal, Geyler Castro.

The letter said someone had unloaded a number of items from the principal’s car and unknowingly took the box containing the firearms into the school.

Broward County Sheriff’s Office deputies investigated the matter and determined there was no threat to students, the letter said, according to WPLG.

“No one intended to bring a weapon into the building. The box was among many items brought into the locked room from the principal’s vehicle,” the letter continued.

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Parents told WSVN they were shocked to learn of the news, and it took the school more than 24 hours to notify them of the incident.

“I mean, I didn’t hear anything,” parent Jincy Mathews told the outlet. “What the heck? Oh, my God.”

“It’s scary. What you’re telling me is scary,” Mathews continued. “Telling the kids not to bring those types of things onto campus, so she should be the model.”

In Florida, it’s a felony to have a gun on school property, but “a person may carry a firearm in a vehicle pursuant to s. 790.25(5); except that school districts may adopt written and published policies that waive the exception in this subparagraph for purposes of student and campus parking privileges.”

It’s unclear if Castro will face charges. The principal has not responded to various requests for comment.

Somerset Academy is located in Parkland, less than three miles from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the scene of the deadly 2018 mass shooting.

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