Bradenton teenager arrested for bringing gun and ammo to Southeast High, cops say

Tiffany Tompkins/ttompkins@bradenton.com

A Southeast High student was arrested Tuesday on charges that he brought a gun to school.

It’s the second time in a month that a student was arrested for bringing a gun to the school.

The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said a school administrator walked into a boy’s bathroom at the school and saw a male student showing a gun to three other students.

A news release said the 14-year-old student “tried to hide the firearm by placing it inside his backpack.” The school official took the backpack and the student to the school resource officer, who found a 9-millimeter gun and four live rounds of ammunition inside the backpack, the news release said.

No additional weapons were found among the other three students involved, the news release said.

The student was charged with possession of a firearm on school property. Officers are investigating how the student got the gun and why he had it on school property, the news release said.

No threats of violence to anyone at Southeast High or about a shooting were made, according to the sheriff’s office.

The Bradenton Herald does not generally name crime suspects who are under the age of 18.