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Schools

Teen arrested at school with unloaded gun

By Times Staff Writer
Published August 12, 2005

TAMPA - One week into the new school year, a 15-year-old Hillsborough High School student was arrested amid allegations he brought an unloaded .380-caliber handgun to campus to scare off students he had fought with the day before.

A guidance counselor went to the school's resource officer Thursday morning when she saw what looked like the outline of a gun in the front pocket of the student's jeans, Tampa police spokesman Joe Durkin said.

The officer confronted the teenager a short time later, looked inside his backpack and found the gun, according to a police report. The student told police he bought the gun on the street Wednesday evening after a school-related fistfight off campus Wednesday afternoon.

"The student decided he was going to carry a little extra protection," Durkin said. "He said if anyone gave him any problems, he was going to have it there to scare him off."

Investigators Thursday afternoon were still trying to determine exactly where he bought the gun. He didn't have bullets.

"What's alarming is that he knew where to go or who to talk to about getting a gun," Durkin said. "Obviously, the case doesn't end here."

The student, whose name is being withheld because of his age, was arrested on campus, 5000 N Central Ave., at 8:30 a.m. Thursday and charged with one count each of carrying a concealed weapon and being a minor in possession of a handgun.

He was taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center. If convicted, he faces enhanced penalties because the crimes occurred on campus, Durkin said.

Hillsborough County schools' policy on students found guilty of bringing guns onto campus is to automatically suspend them for 10 days and to recommend that the School Board expel them or transfer them to an alternative education facility.

[Last modified August 12, 2005, 00:46:18]