Police arrest 7 students for carrying weapons to school in Miami-Dade

MIAMI (WSVN) -- Just days after a teenager died at Coral Gables Sr. High School at the hands of a knife-wielding student, police have been called to several different schools across Miami-Dade County regarding students and weapons.

From box cutters to knives to even a loaded gun, police across South Florida had a busy morning Thursday, addressing concerns that students are taking dangerous weapons to school.

At a press conference later that afternoon, at the Miami-Dade School Board Building in Downtown Miami, Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, attributed the high amount of weapons found at schools in one day to awareness. "If there's any silver lining to the loss of life at Coral Gables High School is that both children and adults are engaged, because of heightened awareness about this issue, in conversations with each other and a lot of activity in terms of students reporting weapons that others are bringing to school," he said.

Of the seven arrests, six involved weapons on campus, while police intercepted the seventh student as he walked to school. "We saw today no less than six weapons brought to our school system and all of those resulted in students being arrested," Carvalho noted.

But besides the positive side of students turning in other students for taking weapons to school, the killing of 17-year-old Juan Carlos Rivera also brings a negative side, Carvalho noted. "We do believe, according to what our psychologists tell us, that there is a degree of copycat behavior that follows a tragedy like the one that we observed Tuesday," he said.

No students were hurt as a result of these incidents, although three schools saw eerily similar situations to Coral Gables High after police arrested students for carrying knives to campus. Those schools included Dr. Michael Krop Sr. High, South Dade High School and Miami Coral Park Sr.

Meanwhile, at Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School, police arrested a student for bringing a box cutter to school.

Police also arrested another student, this time at Miami Springs Sr. High School, for bringing a loaded .38 caliber gun on campus. Additionally, police took a child into custody at Lake Stevens Middle School for bringing a Taser on campus.

Finally, police arrested a Palm Springs Middle School student for an incident Wednesday, when that student attacked another student with a letter opener.

Hearing about this slew of cases in one day, one parent who has a child at Miami Coral Park, said, "You know, it's scary, as a parent ... But I heard what the superintendent said yesterday, when they asked him about security. It's not only up to the school. It's up to us as parents. We need to step up to the plate and be more of a parent to our children."

The mother echoes what Carvalho said about security concerns at Coral Gables High, on Tuesday, when 17-year-old Juan Carlos Rivera died from stab wounds on campus. The teen's attacker, Andy Rodriguez, also 17, confessed to killing him and faces second degree murder charges.

All of those arrested Thursday went to the Juvenile Assessment Center in Miami and are expected in juvenile court Friday.

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