A 17-year-old Palatka Junior-Senior High School student, Hayden Starling, was arrested Monday after school staff discovered a handgun and ammunition in his truck. The search was conducted following a reported off-campus fight involving Starling on Friday, as a precautionary measure to ensure no firearms were brought onto school grounds.
During the search of Starling’s truck, staff located a revolver-style handgun along with 17 shotgun shells.
Sheriff H.D. ‘Gator’ DeLoach expressed strong disapproval of the incident, stating, “I cannot stress enough how this behavior will not be tolerated. I don’t care who you are, who you are related to, what you were doing on the weekend. If you bring a firearm to school, you will be arrested and charged. What infuriates me the most is that a group of hormonal boys decide to endanger others with their childish antics. Here is my advice for you – better get it out of your system now. Many of you are almost 18 and quite frankly you won’t do well on the big boy side of jail. Mr. Starling is learning a hard lesson right now and I hope he takes the lesson to heart.”
Starling was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm on school property, a third-degree felony. He was booked into the Putnam County Jail and subsequently transferred to a Department of Juvenile Justice facility in Daytona Beach.
The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, in accordance with state public records law, released Starling’s photo and name due to the felony charge and because the incident affects public safety.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.