October 10, 2008
Gary Davidson
Public Information Officer

9th GRADER ARRESTED FOR BRINGING GUN TO ATLANTIC HIGH SCHOOL  

A 9th-grader at Atlantic High School in Port Orange was arrested on campus Friday for bringing a gun to school. The boy kept the gun -- which was unloaded -- along with some ammunition in a case in his book bag and didn’t display it or threaten anyone. A Volusia County Sheriff’s deputy stationed at the school seized the weapon early Friday morning before classes started. The deputy was alerted by the boy’s mother after she discovered the gun was missing from the house and called the deputy because she suspected her son may have taken it to school. During questioning, the boy gave no reason for bringing the gun to school.  

After receiving the call from the boy’s mother at about 7:25 a.m., deputy Sylvia Gainer notified school administrators and had them bring 15-year-old Eddie Emanuel to the school’s discipline office. When he arrived, deputy Gainer searched Emanuel’s book bag and found a small, zipped case that contained an unloaded .380 caliber automatic handgun along with a loaded magazine and four loose rounds. The deputy also seized a small amount of marijuana from the boy, four cell phones, a pair of pliers and a screwdriver that were in a second backpack he was carrying.  

Emanuel was arrested on charges of possession of a firearm on school property and possession of marijuana under 20 grams. Deputies transported him to the Volusia Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Daytona Beach .