Parents react to teen accused of bringing guns to Tampa school

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A 15-year-old is facing charges after Tampa police said they were found with two loaded guns at Blake High School on Thursday.

It’s causing concerns for parents, just weeks after the deadly shooting in Georgia and a rise in online threats.

According to police, what started the search was the School Resource Officer catching the student vaping in the bathroom. When the SRO searched his backpack, they found two handguns.

Another day of school that left parents on edge.

“That’s dangerous, that’s putting my kids at a high risk,” said parent, Marivella Molina.

Police said a 45 caliber and a 9mm were found in the student’s backpack; both with a live round in the chamber.

“It takes one situation to go bad that harms a whole community,” said Deputy Chief Calvin Johnson, with the Tampa Police Department.

One student said she is not afraid to go to school.

“I did not hear what happened until after school, so I wasn’t aware of anything. But once I heard, it was kind of like scared and relieved because I was relieved to not hear about it, I didn’t want to be frightened during school hours. So, I was thankful that I heard about it after school,” said Kelis Palmore, a senior at Blake High.

The student accused of bringing the guns to school is facing two counts of possession of a weapon on school grounds and could face more charges.

“Our biggest fear is a school shooting,” Johnson said.

According to detectives, one of the guns was stolen from a car back in April. There were no injuries or threats made.

Deputy Johnson said they have been seeing more threats recently.

“The police department, the sheriff’s department, St. Pete— every agency has seen an increase in these threats,” he said.

This arrest, along with the recent shooting and increase in threats on social media, are leaving parents on edge.

“I don’t even want to bring my kids to school because you don’t know what can happen, you don’t know if my son could’ve been in that bathroom and that gun shoot out if he’s trying to do something or hurt one of my kids, that’s crazy that’s dangerous,” Molina said.

Some parents, like Christina Grandison, chose to keep their children at home.

“I kept all of my kids home yesterday and I was like they can’t miss school, and she didn’t want to miss her assignments, so I had to do that but now hearing this, it’s really scary,” she said.

Everyone was thankful police caught the student before anything could happen.

“It’s really scary, but thank God he was caught before anything happened,” Grandison said.

The question still remains why this student had guns in the first place, and why they were brought to school. 8 On Your Side has reached out to Tampa police and is waiting for an update.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.