Police seek teen caught on camera with gun trying to enter charter school
PHILADELPHIA (WTXF) - Just 24 hours after police say accused gunman Nikolas Cruz went on a shooting rampage at a high school in Parkland, Florida, surveillance cameras captured a teenage boy as he showed up outside a North Philadelphia charter school with a gun and tried to get in.
"I'm scared. I'm scared for their life," Shyema Boone told FOX 29 Monday.
Boone's two younger brothers, ages 11 and 14, go to the school. FOX 29 showed her the video of the teenager as he racked the weapon and placed it in his pocket, then tried to enter the Mastery Charter School. Fortunately, the door on 22nd street was locked--preventing him from getting in.
"You gotta push the door bell for them to ring you in," Boone explained.
Boone says security at the Frederick Douglass Charter school is tight. There are cameras around the entire school. Visitors are also on camera as they wait to get buzzed in. They can also be subject to a search once they enter.
"They need to find him because he could be going around to any school. Probably doesn't go here. He's just a bully," she said.
This was the second time in the 48 hours after the Florida school massacre where the threat of a gun caused concern at Philadelphia schools. On Friday morning, a student tipped off officials after she saw another student with what turned out to be a toy gun at the Wagner Middle School. That caused a 4 hour lockdown and search by police. That 12-year-old boy was charged Monday with possessing a gun in school.
READ MORE: Wagner Middle School faces lockdown after reports of a gun
"What this speaks to is the importance of something we hammer down every day, which is see something say something," Police Sgt Eric Gripp said Friday.
The teen with the gun outside the charter school fled the scene before police arrived. Police believe he's between the ages of 13 and 16. Anyone who can identify the teenager is asked to call Central Detectives.