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A high school student in Florida was arrested after being caught flashing a gun in his waistband on TikTok.
The 16-year-old was seen in a video lifting up his shorts to show the gun. After being tipped off about the post, a school resource deputy at Atlantic High School arrested the student on Tuesday after finding the loaded gun on him.
"School Resource Deputy Paul Passerrello learned that the student was in the school gymnasium, headed there and found him on the basketball court," Volusia Sheriff's Office wrote in a Facebook post. The TikTok video had been reported to the school administration.
Passerrello took the student to a hallway out of sight of other students, where he asked him to show his waistband. Bodycam footage shared by the Sheriff's Office captured the teen being approached in the sports hall and taken outside. The teen claimed he didn't know what the deputy wanted to talk about when initially asked.
"Someone reported that they have a photo of you and in the photo it looks like there's some sort of a weapon sticking out of the pocket," Passerrello can be heard telling him in the footage.
"He asked him to show his waistband area, which revealed the pistol grip visible in the front. Deputy Passerrello handcuffed the student, removed the gun and escorted him to the deputy's office," noted Volusia Sheriff's Office.
The gun was a Sig Sauer model P365 9mm handgun with a loaded magazine of 10 bullets. His backpack contained a second loaded magazine with 11 bullets and a holster.
Investigation by the Sheriff's Office found that the student had allegedly stolen the gun from a relative's locked closet. The relative is pressing charges against the teen.
According to the defendant, he decided to bring the gun to school after being robbed at work the week before. He has now been charged with possession of a firearm on school property, grand theft of a firearm and carrying a concealed firearm.
The other student captured in the TikTok video claimed she didn't notice her friend had a gun in the video and simply believed he was flashing his abs.
After arrest, the 16-year-old was transported to the Department of Juvenile Justice where he is being held in "secure detention."
According to research from 2019, around seven percent of students in grades 9-12 reported that they had been threatened or injured with a weapon on school property.
