DORAL, Fla. – Fighting back tears, Laura Carreras shares what her second grader told her when he came home from school earlier this week.
" ‘Mom, I thought I was going to die. I said goodbye to my friends. I was crying,’ " she recalls him telling her.
A loaded gun was found on campus at Eugenia B. Thomas K-8 Center in Doral on Tuesday.
Carreras is one of dozens of parents who showed up at their children’s school Friday night to get answers from officials, including Edwin Lopez, Chief of Miami Dade Public Schools Police.
“The fact that they didn’t communicate something, very little, created additional panic,” Carerras says.
Police say it was a 10-year-old student who brought a 9 millimeter handgun to school.
And the incident report says it was loaded.
“In Florida, it is a crime to not store weapons safely, securely and unfortunately the parent failed to do that which led to a 10-year-old bringing the firearm to school.”
The father was arrested. According to a Miami-Dade Schools Police Department arrest report obtained by Local 10 News, Arce Alan Ashbil, 27, did not have any proof of ownership for the gun and kept it stored at home in a bookbag.
Parents hit officials with question after question upset about what they say was a lack of transparency.
Many say they went an entire school day without knowing what happened.
“Parents didn’t get the formal notice until after dismissal. In my opinion, we need to improve that process,” Miami Dade School Board Member Christi Fraga says. “I think a message saying there was situation at the school more information to come, and your kids are safe would’ve avoided a lot of drama.”