[PHOTO CREDIT: Lake County Sheriff’s Office]
[Original Publish Date: 01/04/21]
EUSTIS, Florida— On the first day back from holiday break, a 16-year-old Eustis High School student was arrested for having a loaded gun on campus Monday.
Jaiden Dylan Vickers, 16, is facing serious charges after pills and a loaded 9mm Kel-Tec handgun was found in his backpack that he left in a classroom during basketball practice, according to an arrest affidavit. Three pills were also found in a pill bottle in the backpack and the label on the bottle did not match Vickers’ name. One pill was an allergy medication, one was Ritalin and the third was Zolpidem, the affidavit states.
Vickers, a self-identified gang member, told the school resource deputy (SRD) he belongs to “Folk Nation, Gangsta Disciples” and denied knowledge of the gun. The SRD spoke to Vickers’ father and he said the boy posted a photo of himself holding a gun on Instagram and had his phone taken away as punishment, according to the affidavit.
Vickers then changed his story and said he used a rope with a magnet to retrieve the gun from Lake Eustis after one of his friends fired it, and it fell in the lake. Vickers was arrested for possession of a firearm on school grounds and two counts of possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. He was transported to the Lake County Jail and turned over to the Department of Juvenile Justice.
A recorded message went out to parents of Eustis High School students late Monday afternoon, informing them a gun was found in a backpack on the main campus. “No one was threatened or injured, however bringing a weapon to school is a violation of our code of student conduct,” the message stated in part.
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Our Editor-in-Chief, Marilyn M. Aciego, began writing for Lake Legal News in 2010. Born and raised in Lake County, she is a graduate of Umatilla High School and Lake-Sumter State College. She started her journalism career at LSSC, where she was editor of both student publications, The Angler and The Odyssey. Her professional career began at the Daily Commercial in 2004 where she covered cops and courts the majority of her time there until she left in 2009. Currently, along with being Editor-in-Chief of Lake Legal News, she is the Florida bureau chief for an international media organization. She has made more than two dozen appearances on live national television, including Nancy Grace and the Greta Van Susteren show, along with her appearance on Evil Twins. Contact her with breaking news, tips, and feedback by sending an e-mail to 352Tips@gmail.com. You can also contact us on our Facebook page — and make sure you “Like” and “Follow us” there. [PHOTO CREDIT: Bonnie Whicher]
