Police: Custodians had rifle at school, posted photos of it

A custodian at an elementary school in Boca Raton is charged with having a firearm on school grounds after he brought a rifle to the school, photographed another custodian holding it and shared it on the popular messaging service WhatsApp, according to School District Police.

Domingo Urena-Reinoso and Hoover Mora were arrested after Urena-Reinoso, 52, brought a rifle to J.C. Mitchell Elementary School and Mora, 58, was photographed with it. The photo reportedly circulated on WhatsApp, according to court documents.

The photo was reportedly taken on Wednesday, then it later circulated on WhatsApp and was brought to the attention of a school police officer Thursday. It allegedly shows Mora wearing a polo shirt with the school district’s logo posing with the rifle slung around his body at the school, according to court documents.

A copy of the photo was requested by the South Florida Sun Sentinel, but it was not immediately provided.

A school district police detective interviewed Mora, who said the rifle belonged to Urena-Reinoso. Mora said Urena-Reinoso brought the rifle to the school Wednesday and took a photo with it, court documents show.

When interviewed by police, Urena-Reinoso told detectives he brought his Smith and Wesson AR15 to the school to show his colleagues, according to an arrest report.

He told police he waited for there to be no more students on campus and that he didn’t know he couldn’t have it on campus outside of school hours, the report says.

Both men were charged with possession of a firearm on school property, a felony. Both were let out of the Palm Beach County Jail on supervised release Friday.

J.C. Mitchell Elementary principal Joan Pierre-Jerome issued an alert to parents Friday morning, according to the Palm Beach Post.

“Neither children nor staff were threatened. It appears the employee brought the weapon to school to show co-workers,” the alert said, in part. “The possession of a firearm on school property is a felony. Signage is posted on all district property stating that firearms are strictly forbidden.”

A judge ordered both men to have no contact with each other, not to return to the school they worked at and not to be in possession of weapons, court records show.

Reached by phone Saturday, Urena-Reinoso said he didn’t speak English. Attempts to reach Mora were unsuccessful.

Hoover Mora, left, and Domingo Urena-Reinoso were arrested after UrenaReinoso allegedly brought a rifle and Mora was photographed holding it at a school where the two work as custodians.