Seminole High lockdown lifted after student arrested with gun on campus

A student tip about a gun on campus sent Seminole High School and its Ninth Grade Center into lockdown, and the alert was lifted only after police said they found a 17-year-old hiding in a closet with a weapon in his bag.

Seminole County Public Schools said administration received a tip that a student had a weapon on campus, prompting law enforcement to search the Sanford school. Investigators found the reported individual and the weapon, and officials said the campus was secure as school operations continued. The Code Red and Code Yellow were later lifted after the situation was resolved.

Sanford Police School Resource Officers arrested the student on May 14, 2026, after a fellow student alerted administrators that he had a gun on campus. Police said no students were harmed. The teen was transported to the Seminole County Juvenile Assessment Center and faces charges of possession of a firearm under the age of 18, disruption of school function and possession of a firearm on a school campus.

The response covered both the school’s main campus and the Ninth Grade Center, showing how quickly a report can move from a student warning to a full campus search and then to custody of the suspect. District leaders said there was no indication of intent to harm in this incident or in a separate weapons case that surfaced the same day at another Seminole County high school.

In a message to parents, Seminole High School principal Michael Pfeiffer thanked law enforcement and said the district would add police presence and a weapon-detection K9 on campus as a standard safety protocol. Superintendent Serita Beamon said two students at two different high schools were arrested Thursday after firearms were found on campus, and urged parents to talk to their children and secure firearms at home.

The Seminole High arrest came amid a broader districtwide safety response that also involved Lyman High School in Longwood. For families in Sanford and across Seminole County, the episode underscored that school security now depends on rapid reporting by students, a fast law enforcement search and clear communication as administrators decide when to lock down, when to reassure parents and when to reopen campus.