Loaded Gun Found In 6-Year-Old’s Backpack At Florida School

A teacher at a school in Florida found a loaded gun in a kindergartner’s backpack Thursday morning, according to the school and Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff’s office confirmed that the gun found in a six-year-old’s backpack at a West Palm-area charter school was loaded. According to witnesses, when the unnamed student walked into the classroom at Somerset Academy Lakes, he tossed down his backpack and the loaded gun reportedly fell out.

The sheriff’s office said the teacher “immediately rushed the students out of the classroom” and informed the school’s staff. The principal then contacted the sheriff’s office.

The sheriff’s office has been trying to determine how the loaded gun got into the six-year-old’s backpack.

The student was reportedly not aware that the gun was in the backpack, according to a message Principal Clint Duvo sent to parents of students at the school. He also assured neither the students nor the staff at the Summit Boulevard campus were in danger.

Duvo said the teacher found the firearm before classes began. The school’s staff rushed to move the students away from the area, secured the classroom and called authorities, the principal added.

The situation was handled "very, very quickly," said Lynn Norman-Teck, a spokeswoman for the Florida Charter School Alliance.

It was not immediately made clear if anyone will be charged in the incident, as the authorities are investigating how the gun ended up in the elementary school student’s backpack, the sheriff’s office stated.

Principal Duvo sent a statement to the parents of the students from the school after the incident. Read the full text here:

"Here at Somerset Lakes/SLAM, the safety and welfare of our students is always our paramount concern. We will always inform you of any concerns affecting our school community.

This morning, before classes began, a teacher discovered there was a weapon in an early childhood student’s backpack. The student body and staff were never in any danger. Immediately upon discovering the gun, the classroom was secured, students were removed from the area, and authorities were notified. It is our understanding that the student did not intend to bring the weapon to school and had no knowledge that there was a weapon in the backpack.

A Palm Beach County Schools official is on-site. Police are conducting a full investigation. We wanted to inform you of the incident as soon as law enforcement cleared us to do so and re-assure you again that no student was ever in any danger. We will continue to keep you informed as we have updates. For further information, please feel free to contact me at (561) 641-4449."

The elementary charter school Somerset Academy and nearby sister middle school SLAM Palm Beach, like SLAM middle school at Northwest 12th Avenue and Seventh Street in Miami, are all managed by South Miami-based Academica.

Somerset Academy opened in 2016 and has ties to Miami rapper Pitbull and a large charter management company. Students were caught with firearms in Palm Beach County District schools at least 10 times this academic year, according to court, school and police records, cited by the Palm Beach Post.