Local News

FORT LAUDERDALE (CBS4) ― Fort Lauderdale police say an adult or adults may be charged in the case of an eight year old student who they say brought a fully loaded semi-automatic pistol to Walker Elementary Friday.

The boy was arrested after he allegedly showed the gun around to fellow students in a walk-in closet of his third grade classroom.

"He had a gun, and then we went and told the teacher," classmate Diandre Witherspoon told CBS4 News reporter Gary Nelson.

While the youngster faces a felony charge of bringing a firearm onto school property, those who gave him access to the gun in the first place may face criminal charges as well.

"Florida Chapter 790 is very clear," criminal defense attorney Mark Seiden told Nelson.

"If an adult leaves a firearm where a minor can get to it, and that minor brings it to a public place, that adult can be charged with a crime," Seiden, who is also a former homicide detective, said.

The boy lives in a neighborhood of Mediterranean style homes in Sunrise with his mother, according to police. The house they live in, a one story with a barrel tile roof, is valued on the tax rolls at $400,000. The boy took the bus every day across the county to attend Walker Elementary, a magnet school for the arts.

A man who refused to give his name answered the door at the youngster's home Monday and said the boy's mother was not there. The boy, who CBS4 News is not identifying due to his tender age, also came to the door briefly before the man closed it. The student is suspended from school and officials are expected to ask that he be expelled for a year.

Fort Lauderdale police Sergeant Frank Sousa told CBS4 News, "The determination of whether to charge the child's mother, and/or another person, is still being made at this time."

Police say they want to be sure exactly who owned the gun, and what adults may have known that it was in a place where the boy could get it.

Interesting - perhaps infuriating to some - is that, while the third grader is charged with a felony, adults who may have allowed him to get his hands on the pistol face only a 2nd degree misdemeanor, punishable by a maximum of 60 days in jail and/or a $500 fine.

As the investigation continues, some parents are concerned that the school told less than the whole story in a letter sent home to parents Friday afternoon.

The letter informed parents that a teacher confiscated an "unloaded weapon" from the student. What the letter does not say is that, according to fellow students, the 9mm pistol was fully loaded only moments before the teacher confronted the boy that he allegedly removed the ammunition clip only after other students told him they were going to tell.

"We don't know what's going on!" parent Latanya Boatwright said Monday. "The letter didn't say it was loaded, but then I saw on the news that it was loaded," she said. "All the parents should have known."

When asked why the letter to parents contained a less than complete story of what happened, Broward schools spokesman Keith Bromery told Nelson, "I don't have the answer to that."

Bromery said the school's principal had reported, correctly, that the gun was empty when the student was confronted. He said he didn't know if the principal was aware that the gun was apparently loaded minutes earlier, even though the information was readily available from students and the police on Friday.

Bromery said he was unable to contact Principal Eric Miller late Monday for a more complete explanation. Miller refused to speak with CBS4 News Friday, ordering a reporter off campus and declining to even give his name.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Helpful Pages at CBS4.com

• CBS 4 Jobs
• Taxes
• Homes
• Tourism
• Traffic