A Crestview teenager is in custody after taking a loaded handgun onto a school bus and Crestview High School's campus yesterday, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office.
Jeremiah Murphy, 13, of Painter Branch Road, says he hid the gun in his boot and rode the bus to Crestview High, where he was supposed to catch another bus to the Best Chance program conducted on the campus that includes Northwood Arts and Science Academy and Richbourg E.S.E. School.
Instead, Murphy left the Crestview High campus, hid the gun in woods and went to the city library, according to the OCSO.
He collected the weapon from the woods and got back on the bus in the afternoon to head home.
Deputies say Murphy told them he took the Taurus PT-22 semi-automatic from a family member’s vehicle. He’s also accused of taking a $300 AT&T tablet from his mother.
After the school bus ride home, witnesses say Murphy fired the gun at the intersection of Bambi Road and Chambray Road to see how loud it was.
He was arrested Tuesday at his home and charged with carrying a concealed firearm, having a firearm on school property, discharge of a firearm in public, and grand theft.
Murphy was taken to a Department of Juvenile Justice facility.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 13-YEAR-OLD CHARGED WITH CARRYING CONCEALED FIREARM ON CRESTVIEW CAMPUS, BUS