A 16-year-old student at Cypress Lake High School in Fort Myers, Florida should be hailed as a hero for disarming a gunman, but has instead been suspended for being involved in an “incident.”
The student, who has asked not to be identified, saw a 15-year-old student aim a gun point blank at another student and threatened to shoot him on a school bus last Tuesday, reports Fox 4 Now.
“I think he was really going to shoot him right then and there,” the student said. “Not taking no pity.”
The student said that’s when he wrestled the suspect for the weapon, a .22 caliber RG-14 Revolver. Witnesses say the suspect is a football player for the high school and that he threatened to shoot a teammate because he had been arguing with his friend.
The next day, the student should have received praise for his actions, but instead the school suspended him for three days.
“It’s dumb,” the student said. “How they going to suspend me for doing the right thing?”
Authorities could not watch the surveillance tape on the bus because the camera was not working at the time. The suspect was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm on school property and assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill.
The school issued a final statement on the issue:
“The District has completed its investigation regarding an incident that took place on February 26, 2013, regarding multiple Cypress Lake High School students. The District is unable to comment regarding the specific disciplinary measures taken against specific students. However, it must be noted that during the initial investigation conducted by the administration of Cypress Lake High School the students involved refused to cooperate with school authorities regarding the events that occurred. As a result, appropriate disciplinary actions were taken at that time. Subsequently, law enforcement along with school officials have acquired additional information that has provided the complete picture of what occurred that day. Certain students involved have been and will be disciplined in accordance with that additional information consistent with the Code of Student Conduct and Florida law. The District will be making no further comment regarding this matter.”
The student’s mother said that her son was suspended because he refused to cooperate with the investigation and that he was scared, but that he prevented a lot of fatalities. Had this boy kept quiet in his seat and not intervened, this would be a very different story.