Juvenile petition filed for student who fired gun inside Fuquay-Varina Middle School, man faces misdemeanor charge

A broken window with a bullet hole was visible on the first floor of the building. Friday will be a teacher work day to allow students to process the events.

Authorities said the threat was not directed at any specific student or staff.

A Wake County school resource officer was present at the school and Fuquay-Varina police responded just after 8 a.m.

The Wake County Sheriff’s Office has obtained a secure custody order for a 12-year-old student at the school. Juvenile petitions have also been served and filed.

Related to the case, Seth Lanterman-Schneider, 39, of Willow Spring, faces a misdemeanor charge for a violation of the storage of firearms to protect minors, the sheriff's office said.

Lanterman-Schneider has a $15,000 secured bond and has a court date scheduled for Friday.

Parent Wayne Brunson had two reasons to worry. His wife works at Fuquay-Varina Middle School and his son is a student there. They were together in homeroom when police arrived.

"I was traumatized a lot," student Elias Brunson said. "I was happy my mom was there to calm me down."

Gerson Ortiz was among the parents and family members who rushed to the school to pick up their students.

"My son texted me when I was at work," he said. "I thought it was a drill of some sort. He told me, 'No, it's real.' He was scared, told me to please come."

Ortiz said his son was next to the student who fired the gun.

"You hear it on the news, and next thing you know you’re in the middle of a situation," Ortiz said. "He was sitting next to the kid – actually behind the kid – when the whole situation went down."

Police said no one was injured, and language arts teacher Lynn Guilliams intervened to stop the student from doing any more damage.

Sixth grader Tessa Dean said she heard another student say he hated the school and saw Guilliams jump into action.

"My teacher was just like, 'Give me your gun, right now, right now,'" Dean said.

"My teacher called the principal and said, 'I have the gun. It’s in my possession.'"

A Wake County Public School System spokesperson said the student was taken into police custody and the gun confiscated. It was not clear where the student got the gun.

"It’s so scary when you know the kid, know where they live, they ride the bus with you and you don’t know they have a gun," Dean said.

A parent with a 7th grade student in the school told WRAL News, "I am just thankful for the Fuquay-Varina police for sharing the information right away and for the staff and school personnel for acting swiftly and ensuring the safety for all students on campus. Having access to the information so early on helped ease my mind as a parent."