TAMPA -- Sheriff's deputies on Wednesday continued investigating how a 6-year-old mentally handicapped boy got a loaded .22-caliber gun that accidentally fired at Robinson Elementary School in Plant City.

The boy, who was not named by authorities, was reaching into his pocket when the gun went off during class Tuesday morning.

No one was injured, but the shot startled the nine other children in the class. Many parents went to the school to take their children home early.

Sheriff's Lt. Rod Reder said detectives have determined who owned the gun and have several leads about how the boy got it. Sheriff's officials decided not to charge the first-grader with possession of a firearm on school property, a felony, because of his age and disability.

But whoever made the gun available to the boy could face criminal charges, Reder said.

Pam Bondi, spokeswoman for State Attorney Mark Ober, said the law allows for the prosecution of a person who stores or leaves a loaded firearm within reach of a child if the weapon inflicts injury.

The boy, who was taken into protective custody Tuesday, was returned to his mother Wednesday.

For now, Red Tide still limited to Sarasota area

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Red Tide bloom moving north from Sarasota County had not reached Manatee County by Wednesday, said scientists who examined water samples.

Seawater taken offshore near Fort DeSoto also tested negative for the single-cell organism, said Earnest Truby, a research scientist at Florida Marine Research Institute.

However, in response to the algae bloom, the state closed shellfish beds in Sarasota Bay, Lemon Bay and the Myakka River. Shellfish tend to concentrate and retain the toxin found in Red Tide. People who eat those shellfish are likely to experience intestinal distress. Beachgoers also might suffer from coughing fits and itchy eyes if Red Tide is present.

Clearwater man sentenced in rape and burglary

LARGO -- A Clearwater man pleaded guilty in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court on Wednesday to breaking into a woman's home and raping her. Vladimil Cruz, 19, of 1381 Voylan Ave., Apt. B, was sentenced to nearly 12 years in prison and 10 years of probation for burglary and sexual battery.

Cruz was accused of breaking into the Clearwater home and holding down the woman as he raped her. He was arrested Jan. 1, about 15 minutes after the attack.

Murder solicitation brings eight-year term for woman

LARGO -- A Clearwater woman was sentenced Wednesday to eight years in prison for offering an undercover police officer $500 to kill her ex-husband. Christina Lue Decker, 36, of 2918 Drew St., No. 217, who pleaded no contest in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court last month to a charge of solicitation to commit murder, also cannot have any contact with the victim. She was arrested in February.

Clearwater police began investigating Decker in December, after receiving information that she wanted her ex-husband killed. The pair apparently were in a custody battle. Police arranged a meeting with Decker. She made the $500 offer and provided an officer with a photograph of her ex-husband, along with his home address.

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