OAKLEAF – The Clay County Sheriff’s Office charged a fifth grader at Oakleaf Village Elementary carrying a pocketknife with a three-inch blade in her backpack on Thursday, Nov. 6. 

According to a release from the agency, officials from the school assisted with the investigation, which included interviews with the girl, her parents and other students. CCSO determined there was no lawful reason for her to have the knife on school property, and she was arrested and taken to the Department of Juvenile Justice – Duval Detention Center. 

According to Florida law, it is illegal to possess or discharge weapons or firearms at a school-sponsored event or on school property, including a person who exhibits any sword, sword cane, firearm, electric weapon or device, destructive device, or other weapon, including a razor blade, box cutter,   or common pocketknife, except as authorized in support of school-sanctioned activities, in the presence of one or more persons in a rude, careless, angry, or threatening manner and not in lawful self-defense, at a school-sponsored event or on the grounds or facilities of any school,  school bus, or school bus stop, or within 1,000 feet of the real property that comprises a public or private elementary school, middle school, or secondary school, during school hours or during the time of a sanctioned school activity, commits a felony of the third degree.