Seminole school leaders allegedly tried to cover up gun at school incident

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Three elementary school leaders were placed on administrative leave after the Seminole County School District said it learned a child brought a gun to school twice, and the trio allegedly tried to cover up the incidents.

The names of those involved are school principal Greg Turner, Jeannette Amayo and Steve Morton.

Attorney Jed Main represents an anonymous school employee who blew the whistle that led to the investigation after a fourth-grade student managed to bring an unloaded gun to school in a backpack two days in a row in May.

According to a report, another student reported the gun to a behavior specialist who waited five hours to do anything.

"I think [these are] three people who just really failed," said attorney Main.

The report said the student with the gun was allowed to go home and the specialist didn't immediately notify the assistant principal.

The report said that the assistant principal didn't come to school the next morning to investigate, but instead went to a local country club awards breakfast.

According to the report, it wasn't until 1 p.m. the following day that the gun was found in the student's backpack.

"Obviously there was a breakdown, a huge breakdown in this situation," said Main.

It's something parents of Hamilton Elementary School students said they just can't believe.

"[It] hurts actually, because I wouldn't think that any of them would do that," said parent Melissa Fernandez.

Turner was out of town when the incident happened. But he, too, is facing losing his job too because the investigation found he didn't have the proper emergency response plans in place and he didn't notify his supervisor when he learned of the situation.

WFTV reporter Kenneth Craig attempted to contact the three school leaders. The only response he received was from Turner, who said he was disappointed.

WFTV