From the Orange County Sheriff’s Office:
An instructional assistant was helping a child who arrived late to school with getting items out of the child’s bookbag when the assistant found what appeared to be a firearm at approximately 12:50 p.m. The instructional assistant immediately notified administration and the School Resource Officer of needing immediate assistance.
Administration and the SRO quickly took possession and control of the firearm and bookbag. The firearm was removed from the school. Additional Sheriff’s Office personnel responded to the school to ensure the safety of students and staff and to start conducting an investigation.
The school was placed into a “Safe School Mode.” Interviews were conducted at the school and late into the evening. It was determined that a 6-year-old child brought the firearm, which was identified as a loaded Heritage Rough Rider single action .22 cal “Cowboy style” revolver. At this time, there is absolutely no indication that the child had any intention to use the firearm and additionally did not understand the severity of the item that was brought.
Until the instructional assistant located the firearm, neither the Sheriff’s Office nor the school system was aware of its presence and had not received any information or threat of any weapon on school property.
Administration and the SRO responded promptly to the situation. The investigation is still ongoing, and we can assure the public that no stone will be left unturned at the conclusion of the investigation. The safety of all students and staff is the top priority of OCSO and OCPS. We try our best to provide information to the public in a timely manner, but that information must be factual and not speculation. We are very fortunate with the response of the school employees and grateful to have School Resource Officer’s in our schools to respond to incidents.
The Sheriff’s Office takes great pride in the selection of our school resource officers. Our children are our most valuable asset and many of our SROs and deputies have children in our schools. Please have conversations with your children about the dangers of firearms and if they see one to “Stop, don’t touch it, and tell an adult.” Additionally, if they “See something, say something.”
As parents and grandparents, we all have a responsibility as firearms owners to always secure our firearms and account for them. Additionally, the recommendation is to store ammunition in a separate location.
Please check backpacks as well before your child goes out the door. Remember, you can never be too safe.
This situation is very unfortunate and heartbreaking to this community. We will get through this together. Situations like these remind us of how fortunate and thankful we are that nothing serious happened. Show your children lots of love and hold them tight!
Due to the integrity of the investigation, this is all we can release at this time.
Sheriff Jason C. Smith
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