11-year-old facing felony after bringing gun to his elementary school and threatening to shoot classmates

On March 2, the Collier County Sheriff’s Office headquartered in Naples, Florida, released word that an 11-year-old Osceola Elementary School student is now facing a felony charge after he brought an unloaded weapon to school. The arrest of that 11-year-old went down on March 2, the same day he was accused of threatening to shoot two of his classmates.

The fourth grader was taken into custody on a charge of carrying a concealed weapon on school grounds. He was also placed under provisions of Florida’s Baker Act.

The Baker Act is a Florida law that enables families and loved ones to provide emergency mental health services and temporary detention for people who are impaired because of their mental illness, and who are unable to determine their needs for treatment.

The 11-year-old student will be processed through the Juvenile Assessment Center where he will also receive a full evaluation.

The school’s Youth Relations Deputy stopped the student when he got off the bus at school Tuesday morning, after learning of the threat. While speaking to the student, the deputy located an unloaded 45 caliber gun in the student’s backpack. Deputies detained the student and secured the firearm.

Deputies said this was an isolated incident and there was no danger to the school.

Community reactions included citizens thanking the deputies for their due diligence, to questions as to how the student was able to procure a firearm in the first place, along with unfounded theories that he may have been a victim of bullying – and hopes that this young person receives appropriate mental health care and not simply treated like a criminal.

(Source: Collier County Sheriff’s Office)