ORLANDO, Fla. – There has been a lot of partial information and misinformation published recently regarding a gun being found at Boone High School and the criminal cases against two students. We want to set the record straight.

The investigation revealed the 19-year-old student was not in possession of the firearm when it was discovered in September 2024. There also was no evidence to support he was in possession of a firearm on school property, nor did he make any admission of guilt. While there may have been probable cause to make an arrest, prosecuting a case requires meeting a higher burden of proof, which was not present in this instance and the case did not meet the legal standard required to file a formal charge of Possession of a Firearm on School Property.

While the decision was made to not file that charge last week, this case was sent to the office in September 2024 before State Attorney Worrell returned to office. The only charge we could have potentially moved forward with for the 19-year-old was a misdemeanor charge of Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor but the previous administration failed to act within the required timeframe, allowing the speedy trial period to expire for the misdemeanor charge on Dec. 12, 2024.

We are unable to provide information on the charges against the juvenile because we don’t comment on juvenile cases.