News Staff Report
Escambia County Middle School was placed on lockdown briefly last Friday, October 14, after a student was found to be in possession of a loaded gun during class.
The student was quietly arrested around noon by Escambia County Sheriff’s Office deputies as he sat in an ECMS classroom.
School officials posted the news on their Facebook page Friday afternoon, noting that the school “was placed on lockdown today because there was believed to be a student in possession of a firearm.
“Immediate action was taken. The firearm was recovered, and the student has been arrested and is no longer on campus. All students are safe, and Escambia County Middle School has resumed a normal school day.”
Sheriff Heath Jackson said in a press release that ECSO deputies responded to the school after receiving a report that “there might have been a student there that was armed.” Deputies went to the student’s class and found him to be in possession of “a semi-automatic handgun that was loaded.”
Jackson said the student has been taken to an unspecified area juvenile detention facility.