Deputies Posted At Fivay Following Arrest Of Student, Teacher

NEW PORT RICHEY, FL — Pasco County Sheriff's deputies have been posted at Fivay High School after a student and teacher were arrested. The sheriff's office said the increased law enforcement presence Wednesday is "out of an abundance of caution and to ease parents' and guardians' concerns."

The school campus was placed on "controlled campus" status Tuesday afternoon after a student told other students he saw someone on campus with a gun. Another student reported this to school officials. A search of the campus was conducted and deputies found no evidence of a threat. Hours later, the 16-year-old student who made the threat admitted that he made it up. He was arrested and charged with disrupting a school function and filing a false report to law enforcement.

During a secondary search of the campus after dismissal, deputies found a loaded KelTec .380-caliber handgun in a teacher's purse stored in an unlocked filing cabinet. Language arts teacher Robin Marie Wilson, 35, was arrested and charged with having a gun on a school campus. She told deputies that she forgot the gun was in her purse. Her bond was set at $5,000.

Pasco School District spokesman Steve Hegarty said Wilson has been placed on paid administrative leave until the school board can determine what, if any, action needs to be taken. Wilson has been a teacher at Fivay for less than a year.

"The law's pretty clear," said Hegarty. "Unless the gun is in a locked box in your car or other secured location, you can't have it on a school campus."

The increased sheriff's presence at the high school come after a series of incidents at the high school including two lunchtime fights that led to six arrests last week that prompted the sheriff's office to add a second resource officer to the school for the remainder of the year. The school also installed a buzzer to alert staff whenever anyone walks into the school building.

The sheriff's office also arrested a 15-year-old Jan. 24 after they said she set fire to a soap dispenser in one of the high school's bathrooms. She was charged with first-degree arson.