Florida student suspended after ‘imitating a rifle with his hands’

A Florida high school student was suspended Friday after he used his hands to imitate a gun and pretended to shoot another classmate, the school’s principal said.

Arthur Nauss, the principal at Island Park High School in Fort Myers, said he filed an incident report with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office after he witnessed the student “imitating a rifle with his hands and pointing it to the classroom,” a local Fox affiliate reported Wednesday.

Another staff member told the station that the student made “a gesture with his arm simulating as if he was firing a weapon into the classroom.”

A third staff member said the student “stood in the classroom doorway and made a machine gun style pose with his arms pretending to shoot at the classroom.”

Mr. Nauss issued a statement saying that while the student didn’t pose a threat to anyone, disciplinary action was taken “considering the recent events here in Florida.”

“I took the disciplinary action of sending the student home after I observed him pointing his finger at another student imitating that he was shooting a gun,” Mr. Nauss said. “The student pointing the finger and the student he was pointing at know each one another and were laughing at one another.

“There was no threat being issued but I believe it necessary to make it clear to the student, and all our students, that this is unacceptable behavior considering the recent events here in Florida,” he said. “I called the student’s mother to inform her of what had occurred and let her know I would be working with the student in the future to ensure this behavior does not reoccur.”

Mr. Nauss said the student could face expulsion if he decides to pull the stunt again.

“I will also let him know that actions like this in the future will be reported to the appropriate authorities,” the principal said.

Island Park High is located about two hours west of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where a 19-year-old gunman fatally shot 17 students and faculty members on Feb. 14.