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Snapchat video shows student with gun on campus of Lakewood High School in St. Pete

Posted at 10:54 AM, Dec 11, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-11 17:21:22-05

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Lakewood High School in St. Pete was on lock-out Monday morning after a gun was found near campus.

Police say they were alerted to a Snapchat video showing a 16-year-old boy on campus with a gun after several students told a School Resource Officer about it. 

They believe the student had the gun in the boy's locker room.

During an investigation, officers became aware that a group of students had left campus.

In a search, they located a gun in a dumpster off campus.

The 16-year-old Lakewood student in the Snapchat video is now in custody and faces felony weapon charges. A second 16-year-old was also arrested and charged with a felony.

Officials are now trying to find out what the students were planning and why the gun was at school.

The Snapchat video had public privacy settings, so several students and people across the country, had access to the video.
Demetrie Gibson, whose two daughters attend Lakewood was nervous. "Once my daughter texted me and said that someone had a gun and the young man was still on campus, I was like oh my god!"
Her younger daughter, Tiffany Bertram took shelter in a closet with band instruments. 

Originally, the school was placed on lockdown following the report. Just after 11:30 a.m., St. Pete police told ABC Action News the school was no longer on lockdown and instead placed on lock-out. By 12 p.m. the lock-out was lifted and parents were allowed to come pick up their kids.

The police department is applauding kids for "seeing something and saying something."