ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Orange County School Board member Vicki-Elaine Felder hosted a town hall meeting on Monday to address the safety of students and the community near Carver Middle School.
The meeting, held in the school’s cafeteria, follows the Dec. 2 incident near Carver Middle School during which gunshots rang out, raising anxiety levels among parents, school administrators and law enforcement officials.
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“No, there was no massive fight, as was erroneously reported, involving 50 to 100 people. Yes, two gunshots were heard and yes, a large group of students started running,” Felder said.
Felder represents District 5 and told a crowd of more than 50 community members she wanted to set the record straight and detail what happened.
“Neither one of these teenagers is a Carver (Middle School) student and neither of them is an (Orange County Public Schools) student,” she said.
Orange County Sheriff John Mina, Orlando City Commissioner Bakari Burns and multiple community leaders, including school district officials, addressed the crowd and acknowledged concerns as they responded to questions.
Alvin Shipp said he attended the meeting because he is a graduate of Carver Middle School and wants to see more done following the off-campus incident.
“The kids didn’t attend this school, but the gangs attend every school,” Shipp said.
The sheriff’s office has 163 school resource officers posted at each campus, but Shipp said community involvement is required to tackle the problems.
“The parents, we got to control our children. We cannot depend on the commissioners and the police departments and the school teachers. We have to do that at home,” Shipp said.
Police said the two teens arrested following the Dec. 2 incident attend El Bethel Christian Academy.
An unnamed 13-year-old is facing attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault with a firearm and carrying a concealed firearm charges. A 14-year-old was also charged with carrying a concealed firearm in the same incident.