ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A 13-year-old Florida girl was hospitalized Tuesday after she shot herself on a school bus.
St. Petersburg Police said a school bus was driving 20 students to Tyrone Middle School around 9:20 a.m. when the incident occurred, Fox reports. Yolanda Fernandez, St. Pete Police’s community awareness division manager, said the teen brought the gun on the bus. Paramedics rushed her to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital and she remains in stable condition. No one else was injured.
“There was a pop on the school bus and someone started yelling. Someone was shot. So the school bus driver drove about a block, saw a police officer, and flagged them down,” Fernandez said. “We don’t know if it was accidental or what the circumstances were.”
Police say the bullet exited the side of the bus between the two Ls in Pinellas. Student Levi Viera was sitting in front of the student when the gun went off.
“I was scared,” the 11-year-old said. “I thought it was like a balloon at first being popped until I smelled the gunpowder, and she started screaming.”
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Dozens of parents picked up their children from the school after the incident, according to WFLA.
“My son is a bus rider so my first thought was, ‘Oh my god what if it was his bus?’ And then the school called back saying it wasn’t his bus but still,” said parent Theresa Tomlinson. “How does a that’s 13 years old even get a gun in their possession and on a school bus? What are they going to do about it? Where does it stop? And what procedures are going to be taken for my student’s safety.”
A representative from Pinellas Schools said the district’s student services counselors, social workers, and school-based team members will be at Tyrone Middle School to provide support as long as needed. The rep also encouraged anyone with a safety concern to reach out to the school or report it through the Say Something anonymous reporting tool.
Florida Gun Storage Law
As detectives work to determine how the teen got the gun, Fernandez reminded gun owners about the importance of safe storage.
“It’s very important that you lock your car and secure your guns,” she said. “That means don’t leave your gun in your car even if it’s locked and if you do have a gun in your home, then be a responsible gun owner and make sure that it is not accessible to kids and that it’s in a secure place.”
According to Giffords Law Center, Florida law states that any person who stores or leaves a loaded firearm on premises under his or her control, and who knows or reasonably should know that a person under age 16 is likely to gain access to the firearm without the lawful permission of the minor’s parent or person having charge of the minor, or without supervision required by law, must do one of the following:
- Keep the firearm in a securely locked box or container;
- Keep the firearm in a location which a reasonable person would believe to be secure; or
- Secure the firearm with a trigger lock.
This requirement does not apply when the adult is carrying the firearm on his or her body or within such close proximity that he or she can retrieve and use the firearm as easily and quickly as if he or she carried it on his or her body. However, Florida law only makes the person who fails to store a firearm in this manner criminally liable if a minor gains access to the firearm without the lawful permission of his or her parent or legal guardian and possesses or exhibits it either: 1) in a public place; or 2) in a rude, careless, angry or threatening manner.
