A Largo High ex-student picking up friends on campus is accused of having a loaded gun in his car.
By JANETTE NEUWAHL
Published August 12, 2004
LARGO - A 21-year-old former Largo High student was arrested Tuesday on charges that he brought a loaded gun onto the campus.
Luis Garcia was driving his car through the circular driveway outside Largo High about 1:50 p.m., the school's usual dismissal time, and was stopped by the school's resource officer, George Walters. Police said he was driving erratically with his passenger door hanging open.
Walters pulled over Garcia and his passenger, Goran Jankovic, 18, for reckless driving. When Garcia was asked for his vehicle registration, he handed Walters a pack of papers that included a receipt for a gun.
Walters called for additional officers and, amid the congestion of dismissal Tuesday, he and a team of eight Largo police officers searched the car. They uncovered a .38-caliber pistol in the car's glove compartment. The gun was loaded with five bullets. Officers also found a BB gun in the trunk, said Sgt. Stephen Slaughter, school resource officer supervisor for the Largo Police Department.
"Bringing a weapon on campus is against the law because this is a sanctuary, and it's up to us to protect the students here each day," Slaughter said. "This has never happened before, and I strongly doubt it will happen again."
Garcia was arrested on charges of bringing a firearm onto a school campus, and Jankovic was arrested for trespassing on school grounds. Police reports indicate that Jankovic had been warned several times to stay off the Largo High School campus.
Slaughter said the boys were former students at Largo High and had friends who were still students at the school. Garcia and Jankovic told Walters they were coming to pick up some unidentified friends Tuesday, police said.
Both were booked into the Pinellas County Jail on Tuesday afternoon. Garcia posted $10,000 bail and was released Tuesday. Jankovic posted $500 bail and was released Wednesday.
County records show Jankovic has been arrested several times in Pinellas County on charges of drug sales and possession. County records show he was also arrested in January for lewd and lascivious battery. Garcia has no prior criminal record in Pinellas County.
Principal Jeffrey Haynes said he was glad Walters pulled over the car and happy with the quick response of Largo police officers during a very hectic time at the 2,300-student high school. Haynes sent a letter home with students Wednesday telling parents how administrators kept students away from the scene Tuesday.
"We're happy everybody followed procedure - the students, the young men arrested and the police - because things turned out for the best," said Haynes, who started his tenure as principal at Largo High on Wednesday. "I'm real proud of (Officer Walters) for acting in defense of our students because their safety is always number one."
Jeanne Ford, who was waiting to pick up her granddaughter Wednesday, was shocked that someone would even think to bring a gun onto school grounds.
"What happened yesterday is disastrous," said Ford, a former St. Petersburg resident visiting her granddaughter's family in Largo. "There's too many problems today with guns and video games people play. They go out in the world and think they can do the same thing."
On Wednesday, throngs of students gossiped about the incident Tuesday, sharing stories they had heard about the incident.
Courtney Miller, 15, learned about the arrest Wednesday as she waited for her ride home from school outside the Wendy's restaurant next to Largo High on Missouri Avenue.
"I don't think it's safe to have guns around school because someone could get hurt," the 10th-grader said. "It could have been another Columbine."
Gregg Lonkey, 14, said he heard rumors about what happened but is glad the police were able to intervene before anyone was in danger.
"It's a big school, so there are about a bazillion chances of (a similar incident)," Lonkey said. "I'm just glad it was stopped before anything happened."
