Student Lied About Seeing Gun At Durant High: Deputies

PLANT CITY, FL -- Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies and school security have determined there was no gun on the Durant High School campus Thursday morning and the student lied about seeing a weapon. The 16-year-old student was arrested and charged with disruption of a school function, false statement and obstruction. The student, who was not identified, was booked into the Hillsborough County Juvenile Assessment Center.

The Durant High junior was picked up early from school, and after arriving home he told his mother he observed an unknown student in the hallway during class with a firearm. The parent notified the school administration, who in turn notified the school resource deputy. Multiple deputies responded to the school and the student was returned to school for questioning. He was interviewed for about an hour.

The high school was placed on a school-wide lockout. A lockout means school officials limit movement on campus and no one is allowed on campus from the outside.

Twenty-three deputies and 22 school security officers searched the school and used walk-through metal detecting devices to verify no student had a weapon. Multiple deputies were called in to assist from other schools and the surrounding patrol districts.

After approximately 2.5 hours of searching and a three-hour school lockout, the student being interviewed admitted he fabricated the information. The event was so far reaching that Turkey Creek Middle School received social media reports of a firearm on campus, requiring law enforcement response to that school as well. Upon further investigation, threats at Turkey Creek Middle School were determined to be false and were directly related to the event at Durant High.

The school district issued this statement: "We are glad this ended with no weapon on campus but we share the frustration of parents, staff and students with the fact that this was falsified information which completely disrupted the school day and took away classroom time. This also took valuable resources from the sheriff's office and our school security."

Image via Durant High School