Teen arrested with loaded gun at a NFM skating rink

NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla.- A Cape Coral middle school student is back home after being arrested, accused of threatening another teen with a loaded handgun.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office says the weapon was reported stolen in October, from an unlocked truck in Cape Coral.

Deputies say six boys showed up to the Palace Roller Rink in North Fort Myers, looking for a classmate. According to a witness, one of the 13-year-old suspects flashed a handgun and threatened to shoot his friend. That witness then alerted the victim’s mother of the threat. WINK News will not name any of the students involved because they’re all minors.

The victim’s mother said in an off-camera interview she was “terrified” when she heard what happened and “didn’t doubt the threat was real.” She called the sheriff’s office right away, a move the Roller Rink owner says made all the difference.

The Palace Owner Sandi Lee says she commends the victim’s mother for taking quick action, she commends deputies for controlling the scene. Lee says her staff locked down the rink after learning that a gun was involved. She says this is the most serious incident she’s had at the business she’s owned for more than 35 years but says she will add a security detail at the rink from now on.

Lee County deputies were able to get all of the teens in custody before they ever entered the rink. Court documents say as the deputy searched the 13-year-old suspect he uttered “I have a gun in my waistband.”

The weapon was a loaded Ruger .380, and it wasn’t chambered, according to authorities. Arrest records also say several other teens detained were carrying pellet or BB guns “the fake guns appeared very real and were replicated after manufactured firearms.”

Authorities say the student who allegedly made the threat, has been charged with unlawful possession of a firearm for a minor, carrying a concealed weapon, prowling and loitering.