Officials say boys had gun in school

The loaded .22-caliber handgun was found in a backpack, authorities say. Two are charged.

By MONIQUE FIELDS

© St. Petersburg Times, published September 16, 2000

CLEARWATER -- Two Clearwater High School students were charged with carrying a loaded .22-caliber handgun around campus Friday.

Reacting to a student tip, authorities confronted Christopher Bloom, 17, a junior. First, they found a bullet in his pocket. When they took him to the office, they found the handgun in his backpack, said Wayne Shelor, a spokesman for the Clearwater police.

Officers also charged Christopher Brown, 16, a freshman, with having the weapon in his possession at one point.

Both were suspended from school and taken to the county's Juvenile Detention Center.

Friday's arrests follow a string of bomb threats, fights and gun-waving at or near Pinellas County schools that has left officials concerned.

"It is very early in the year for this to be happening," Pinellas County schools spokesman Ron Stone said. "There's not a good time, but we've only been in school for a couple of weeks."

Since school began on Aug. 23, a handful of schools have been plagued by threatened violence -- including Clearwater High, which also received a bomb threat Friday. Officials said it was a hoax.

On Wednesday, a bomb threat forced the evacuation of students at East Lake High School. Also Wednesday, a former Dixie Hollins High School student and a Madeira Beach Middle School student were arrested in separate incidents involving guns, officials said.

The onetime Dixie Hollins student, who had been banished from campus, had a loaded Glock pistol and bags of marijuana in his car in the school parking lot, sheriff's deputies said. The Madeira Beach Middle School student was accused of pointing a rifle at two other students near a bus stop in Seminole.

No one was hurt in either incident, and no bomb was found at East Lake High.

Clearwater hasn't been immune. On Sept. 1, just days after school started, five students were arrested and several suspended after a series of on-campus fights erupted.

"We're off to a smooth opening pertaining to classes and getting kids in class, but we've had several incidents that have occurred that are isolated from each other that makes it challenging," Clearwater principal Nick Grasso said. "It's really unfortunate that one or two kids can really make things bad for other students."

To calm fears, Grasso sent a note home with students to inform parents that the bomb threat was a hoax and that the gun situation was under control.

He also pointed to one bright spot in an otherwise tough day on Friday. He and other school officials were pleased that students stepped forward and alerted them to the gun.

"I'm surprised a student would have come to school with any kind of weapon," Grasso said. "I'm not surprised our student body made us aware of it."

Bloom and Brown were suspended from Clearwater High School for 10 days. Grasso also will recommend expulsion.

The recommendation will go to the superintendent and the Pinellas County School Board, where it's likely to be upheld, Stone said. If upheld, Bloom and Brown could receive a two- or three-semester expulsion.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement records show that Bloom and Brown have criminal records.

Bloom, also known as "Shorty," was charged with burglary and sentenced to indefinite community control in February 1997. He also has been arrested on shoplifting, battery, petty larceny and grand larceny charges.

Brown was declared a delinquent juvenile in June 1999 for larceny and in August 1999 for burglary. He also has been been arrested on grand larceny and larceny charges, but it was unclear how those cases were resolved.

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