Officials: Student brought gun to Fletcher High

NEPTUNE BEACH, Fla. – Duval County school officials said a gun was confiscated and a student was arrested at Fletcher High School on Monday morning. The gun was not used and there were no injuries.

The gun was not loaded, police said.

Damon Edwards (pictured below), 16, was charged with possession of a firearm on school property, a felony.

School officials said he could face expulsion.

An alert (full text below) was sent to parents about 10:30 a.m. saying school officials had been alerted to a student with a gun.

Sheila Montgomery said she first learned of the incident when she pulled up to pick her son up from school.

Jacksonville Sheriff's Office booking photo of Damon Edwards

She said she went inside looking for answers and was told she should have gotten an email. Montgomery said she never got it.

"Even if I had (found out) at 12:30 (p.m.), I should have been notified immediately," Montgomery said. "I felt when they found out there had been a gun on campus, not to wait until 12:30."

Students said they didn't find out about what happened until right before school let out.

"I just heard about it a few minutes ago in last period, like five minutes before class was over, and they went over the intercom and told us, and I was like, 'Wow! That's crazy,'" said sophomore Amon Neil.

A school employee, who asked to remain anonymous, told News4Jax that even faculty and staff at the school weren't kept in the loop.

"I work at Fletcher. It's so scary to think that there was a gun on campus and that I didn't even find out till seeing it on the news after I was home," the staff member posted on WJXT's Facebook page. "It's a little upsetting that the faculty and staff were not told about the situation."

Parent Brent Lovett said he felt comfortable with the school's response.

"It sounds like they had it under control," Lovett said. "You still know that there's some things that could go wrong that really nobody could prepare for and you really hope that that never happens."

Still, Montgomery hopes if something like this were to happen at her son's school again, she would know immediately.

"We've had too many cases in the past with other schools and other states and cities that the outcome doesn't end like this," she said. "And I don't want my child to be one of the ones where all they can do is tell me they're sorry."

News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said it's important for students to speak up if they see someone with a weapon.

"You wouldn't want to be the person who saw something, then there's some type of mass shooting, knowing you could have done something about it," Smith said. "There's so much pressure about the so-called 'Don't snitch,' but when you see a weapon, you really don't know what that student is thinking, or what they're going to do. So you really need to let a school official know that there's a weapon on campus and who has it." 

The school said it will continue to assist in the investigation and continue its efforts in maintaining a safe environment for all.

The principal also said parents can contact him with any questions.

Transcript of message sent by Principal Don Nelson: 

"Good afternoon Parents and Guardians

"At Fletcher High School, we pride ourselves on the outstanding rapport we have with our students. A great benefit of having that rapport is the high level of trust and communications between our students and staff.

"As a result of this, we were alerted by a student this morning that a student was believed to have a weapon. Working immediately and closely with the school resource office, we immediately conducted a search. The search did uncover a weapon.

"Our preliminary investigation supports that we do not feel that our students were in danger.

"Please know that we will continue to assist in this investigation and continue our efforts in maintaining a safe environment for all.

"As always, thank you for your support and please contact me with any questions."