BRADENTON, FL (WWSB) - Manatee County School officials have announced a ban on all backpacks at county schools after a high school resource deputy discovered a loaded handgun in a teen's waistband Tuesday morning.
The Manatee County Sheriff's office says at 11:45 a.m., school resource deputies at Bayshore High School in Bradenton were alerted by students and school staff that a 10th-grade student may be armed with a firearm.
MCSO says that school deputies quickly located the 16-year-old in question and discovered the loaded handgun.
The young student was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm on school grounds, carrying a concealed firearm and possession of a firearm by a juvenile. Deputies say the teen was transported to the juvenile booking facility.
In response to this incident and others like it following the shooting in Parkland, FL at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school, The Manatee County School board voted to ban backpacks effective immediately in all county schools.
Officials tell ABC7 that before today's meeting the backpack ban was already going to take place on Thursday, but was moved up one day in response to the incident at Bayshore.
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