Parkland Teacher Arrested After Leaving Loaded Gun in Public Restroom

A Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School teacher who had offered to carry a gun on campus was arrested on Sunday for leaving his firearm in a men’s public restroom.

Sean Simpson was carrying a Glock 43 9mm handgun, according to a report by Time. He left the weapon behind after leaving the men’s bathroom at the Deerfield Beach Pier. He later told police that he had forgotten it by accident, and returned when he heard a gunshot. Another man had found the gun and fired it.

Simpson managed to wrestle the gun back from the man, Joseph Spataro, who was also arrested. Spataro was charged with firing a weapon while intoxicated and trespassing. Simpson was charged with failing to safely store a firearm.

Simpson posted a $250 cash bond and was released, according to the Miami Herald. A spokesperson for the school district told Local 10 that there probably won’t be any disciplinary action against Simpson, and he said that he didn’t believe he was violating the school board’s rules by carrying the gun.

Just a few short days before Simpson’s arrest, the Broward School Board voted unanimously not to take part in the state’s new program to arm teachers and other school staff on campus. The program is named after Aaron Feis, the coach who gave his life during the Parkland, Florida school shooting when she shielded his students from gunfire.

The program was introduced just a week after the tragedy as part of Florida’s bipartisan gun reform bill. It allows any school staffers that work in more than one capacity to carry a gun on campus in the hopes of deterring or combating potential school shooters.

The program is completely optional. Neither teachers nor schools themselves are obligated to take place, and after the horrific shooting on Valentine’s Day, Broward County decided that their schools would not take place.

Many of the student protesters from Stoneman Douglas High were not satisfied with the gun reform law, feeling that adding more guns to schools would be a counter-productive measure. They organized the March For Our Lives event at the end of March, which grew to become a national movement.

The students have not stopped there. They have continued pursuing measures to end gun violence and divorce gun lobbyist money from politics. David Hogg, one of the most high profile students, has opted to take a year off from college to devote his full attention to his activist causes.