Marjory Stoneman Douglas teacher leaves loaded gun in public bathroom. Drunk homeless man fires it.


A teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who said he would arm himself after a gunman killed 17 students and teachers there in February apparently left his firearm in a public bathroom Sunday, the Miami Herald reports. By the time the teacher, Sean Simpson, realized he had forgotten his weapon in the stall at the Deerfield Beach Pier, a "drunk homeless man" had picked it up and fired it at a wall.
Simpson was arrested and charged with failing to safely store a firearm, which is a second-degree misdemeanor.
Guns are frequently left and discovered in bathrooms, Splinter reports (there is also an entire Tumblr dedicated to recording such stories). A recent article in the NRA magazine Shooting Illustrated noted: "We hear many stories of people leaving guns in the stall or on the sink, even law enforcement personnel." They have even been forgotten in lavatories by U.S. air marshals on airplanes.
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The Miami Herald notes that on Tuesday, the Broward School Board unanimously rejected Florida's new proposal to arm school staff.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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