POLK COUNTY, Fla. – A 14-year-old boy found with a gun at a Poinciana middle school was arrested Wednesday, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies said the dean of Lake Marion Creek Middle School notified a resource deputy after a witness told them the eighth-grade student threatened to shoot up the school. News 6 is not naming the boy due to his age.
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The 14-year-old was removed from a classroom and questioned by the deputy who asked if he had a weapon on him, according to the sheriff’s office. The boy said he had a handgun in his waistband, officials said, and the deputy recovered a Glock 9 mm. The deputy also found a magazine in the boy’s pocket that had one round inside of it, officials said.
The deputy was told by the witness that the 14-year-old showed the gun to someone at school on Monday, a release said.
Sheriff’s officials said the deputy interviewed the other witness who confirmed the boy showed them the gun after she refused to give him a “dap,” likened to a fist bump or a high five. The witness also said the boy played with a bullet during school Tuesday and made comments to not “come to school tomorrow,” the sheriff’s office said.
Deputies said they learned the boy took the gun from his parents’ room while they were out of town. Officials said the boy’s grandfather was caring for him and did not know there was a weapon in the home.
The 14-year-old faces charges of possession of a firearm on school property, grand theft of a firearm, carrying a concealed firearm and unlawful possession of a firearm by a minor.