MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. (WSVN) - A Miami Gardens high school student accused of bringing a loaded handgun to campus in his backpack appeared before a judge.
According to police, a woman on board a Miami-Dade transit bus spotted 18-year-old Willie Moore with a firearm, at around 8 a.m., Thursday.
The witness, who works at another school, told police, “I seen a student with a firearm, who was actually sitting next to me. By the time he reached his stop by Miami Carol City High School, he exits the bus.”
Moore is a student at Miami Carol City Senior High School.
“This is a very serious charge,” Judge Mindy S. Glazer said in court, Friday.
Moore tried to speak in court but was given some advice.
“Ma’am, can I say something?” he asked.
“You can say you have a good lawyer, so it’s better you let him do the talking,” Glazer responded. “Maybe you want to tell me how you wanna work hard and go to school and stay out of trouble.”
Moore simply responded with two thumbs up while still handcuffed.
After the witness’ tip, police and school officials confronted the teen and confiscated the gun from his backpack.
He then took off running to an area near Northwest 181st Street and 32nd Avenue.
“We have a perimeter set up between 183 to 175 Street,” police said on the radio as they searched for the teen.
Police later caught up to Moore and placed him under arrest.
“What’s the whole point in that? It doesn’t make sense,” a student said outside of the school Friday morning. “He just messed up his life.”
Tangie Hunt spoke to 7News about what she saw unfolding outside of her home.
“I opened up the door, so I saw school police, detective cars, and Miami Gardens, and I’m saying, ‘What’s going on out here?'” Hunt said. “I just see them high-fiving each other, talking. I heard the radio going.”
She said she saw Moore jump onto the roof and police surrounding the house.
“All I saw was them holding a backpack in their hand, and they threw it in the trunk of the car,” Hunt said, “so I said, ‘What they doing with a backpack?'”
According to police, Moore told them that another student had stolen the gun over the summer somewhere off campus.
The judge put him on house arrest for the time being.
His father was also in court trying to sort out possible complications since his son is in Independent Living with the Department of Children and Families. He didn’t comment on his son’s case.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools officials released the following statement after Moore’s arrest, which read in part, “By working together to keep weapons away from our campuses, we are avoiding potentially tragic situations and ensuring that our schools remain safe havens.”
Moore has been charged with possession of a firearm on school property, grand theft of a firearm and resisting arrest without violence.
He was granted $11,000 bond.
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