Florida Teacher Brings Loaded Gun, Knives To School

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SEMINOLE (CBSMiami/CNN) – A Florida teacher has bonded out of jail following her arrest for bringing a loaded gun and two knives to the elementary school where she worked.

Betty Soto was a fourth-grade teacher at Starkey Elementary in Seminole, west of Tampa. Authorities say she brought a Glock 9mm handgun loaded with seven rounds of ammunition, a six-inch fighting knife and a two-inch finger knife in her backpack.

The gun was exposed in her classroom with fourth-grade students present, according to a report by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

Betty Jo Soto, 4th grade teacher, arrested for bringing a loaded gun and knives to school. (Source: Pinellas County Sheriff's Office)

Soto has a concealed weapons permit, but that doesn't allow her to carry weapons on school property and now faces two misdemeanor charges of carrying a concealed weapon.

Soto, whose teaching contract was already not renewed prior to this incident, was fired. She is also not eligible to be hired anywhere else in the school district, according to a Pinellas County Schools spokesperson.