Guns accidentally taken into Somerset Parkland Academy

Governing agency says box with weapons was unloaded from principal’s vehicle

PARKLAND — While items were unloaded from a charter school principal’s car, a box with two guns inside was accidentally taken into the school Thursday with the other items, a statement from the Florida Charter School Alliance said.

Someone told a school resource deputy at Somerset Parkland Academy on Thursday morning that the two guns were found at the school, the Broward Sheriff ’s Office said, and said investigators found the guns belong to the principal.

It was not immediately clear who found the guns.

The school’s governing agency said in a statement Friday that the two guns were in a closed box that was unloaded at the school, along with other items, for the principal. The box with the guns was unintentionally unloaded at the school, the statement said.

The box was put in a locked room that students and teachers could not access, but someone still found it.

School staff “were unaware of the contents of the closed box,” according to the statement, and no students were in danger.

“The School Resource Officer was immediately notified. The officer secured the area and called police. BSO Parkland police investigated the matter and determined there was no threat,” the statement said.

“No one intended to bring a weapon into the building. The box was among many items brought into the locked room from the principal’s vehicle,” it said.

An arrest had not been made by Friday afternoon, the Sheriff ’s Office said, as the investigation continues.

Possessing a gun or weapon on school grounds is a felony in Florida, and multiple teenagers at Broward County schools have been arrested in the 2021-22 school year after they were found with guns.

Most recently, a 13-yearold student at Ramblewood Middle School in Coral Springs was found with a BB gun resembling a Glock handgun last week. Prior to that, a 16-year-old Coconut Creek High student was arrested in April after someone reported he had a gun with him at school.

At the start of the 20212022 school year, a Miramar High 17-year-old student and a 16-year-old Northeast High student were both found with loaded guns while on campus.