HALLANDALE BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Police have arrested a Hallandale High School student after a loaded pellet gun was discovered inside his book bag.
According to Hallandale Beach Police, a school resource officer was searching the bags of some students at the school, along Northwest Seventh Street and Ninth Avenue, around 1:15 p.m., Tuesday.
The student had reportedly been accused of smoking an e-cigarette in the school’s hallways.
Officials said the SRO discovered a .38 caliber revolver inside the front pocket of his book bag during a search.
Upon the revolver’s discovery, the campus was placed on lockdown for almost two hours as police evacuated the school.
Senior Kristen Royal said, “It was serious on the announcements saying, ‘It’s a code red. It’s a code red. Somebody actually has, like, a gun on campus.'”
According to police, upon further investigation, it was determined that the revolver was actually a pellet gun that was loaded with five pellet rounds and one real .38 special round.
“Somebody had texted my phone saying, ‘It’s serious. It’s real, like, it’s a real one,’” senior Peaches Barrett said. “I really didn’t hear anything until afterwards. They didn’t tell us anything. I feel like next time they let something like that happen, somebody could really get hurt.”
Police have identified the student as a 14-year-old male.
Broward County Public Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie emphasized Wednesday the importance of “See something, say something.”
“We’re gonna learn from every, you know, incident that we have,” Runcie said. “We all need to be working together to make sure that we make not just our schools but our entire community as safe as possible.”
BCPS said in a statement:
“There are no known threats or injuries related to the weapon. School administrators and the district’s special investigative unit are cooperating with law enforcement in their investigation.”
He faces charges of possession of a weapon on school campus and perjury.
The teen faced a judge, Wednesday, and his hearing has been postponed until Friday.
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