It is unclear if they will be prosecuted because of their ages, Hernando deputies say. The Hernando School district will decide if they will be expelled.

SPRING HILL – Two pupils, ages 8 and 9, entered J.D. Floyd Elementary School and vandalized several classrooms, according to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office.

Currently, each of the pupils has been issued school discipline, pending a review by the Hernando County School Board for possible expulsion. Additionally, the school board will decide if the two will be criminally prosecuted because of their ages. If the school district decides to prosecute, the case will be forwarded to the State Attorney for review.

Just after 7 a.m. Monday (Sept. 23), school personnel at the school, 3139 Dumont Ave. in Spring Hill, discovered several classrooms to have been burglarized over the weekend.

Deputies said investigation revealed that Saturday (Sept. 21) afternoon, two of the school’s pupils, one a 0-year-old fourth grader and the other an 8 -year-old third grader, entered the J.D. Floyd campus through the front gate. The two entered four classrooms that were either unlocked or not completely secured.

Once inside the classrooms, the children committed numerous acts of vandalism including flipping tables, writing vulgarities on whiteboards, damaging school computers and technology, and damaging teachers’ personal equipment and property.

One area of the school the pupils vandalized is used by the PACE Center for Girls. PACE is a separate function on the property of J.D. Floyd. In this case, the two entered a portable classroom. Once inside,deputies said they discharged a fire extinguisher.

Video surveillance and unique writing on the whiteboard helped identify the two.

The school resource officer, Deputy Ben Witherell, began conductied interviews. Both confessed, deputies said, after they were given a Miranda warning and were interviewed in the presence of at least one parent and a school administrator.

Hernando Sheriff | Crime | School Vandalism | Tampabay News | News Tampa

#HernandoSheriff #Crime #SchoolVandalism #TampabayNews #NewsTampa