Wekiva H.S. student accused of bringing gun on campus

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - A spokesperson with the Orange County Sheriff's Office says a 17-year-old student at Wekiva High School was arrested on Tuesday after authorities received a tip that he had brought a gun to school in his backpack.  

Jane Watrel told FOX 35 that the school was immediately placed into a lock down as deputies located the gun and arrested the student.  "The student and the weapon have been recovered and are in the custody of law enforcement. No one was hurt and at no time was the weapon used in a threatening manner," Watrel said. 

The school was placed on on lockdown, delaying dismissal, and afterschool activities were also canceled. Edward Morales, Lockhart Bible study instructor says, "I was really shocked, because I was coming to see another student play lacrosse. It's scary. The parents are scared and everybody. A young kid shouldn't be having a gun."

Deputies commend the student who called in the tip. We asked the Orange County school board chairman, Bill Sublette, what could possibly be done to keep guns out of school. "I was very, very disturbed. I was very grateful that we were alerted to it," Sublette said.  He added that, with around 3,000 students at the school, having metal detectors wouldn't be possible. "To wand and scan that many students with metal detectors is frankly just logically and logistically impossible for us."

But he said deputies are monitoring social media, however they need the public's help in sharing important information, that could affect the safety of students. "We need to remind our community, please continue to be vigilant and let us know when you see something."

The name of the student arrested was not released.