Westwood Middle School student arrested with gun at school reportedly showed it to a friend weeks before the incident and said it was his

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – According to a report obtained from the Gainesville Police Department, 13-year-old Mike Ridore, who was arrested with a pistol at Westwood Middle School on January 21, had shown the gun to a friend weeks before the incident and said the gun was his. Investigators also learned that Ridore had threatened to kill the younger sibling of another student because he believed the other student was spreading rumors about him.

On January 21, Ridore reportedly showed a friend a 9mm Glock 19X that was in his backpack during the morning assembly in the cafeteria and said it was his. The friend told a second student, that student called his mother, and the student’s mother notified the school.

An Assistant Principal was notified over the school radio that there was a report of a firearm on campus, and he located and detained Ridore outside his classroom, where the students were lined up before class. The Assistant Principal took Ridore’s backpack and escorted him to the Dean’s office, where a search of the backpack reportedly produced a handgun loaded with 14 rounds of ammunition but with no round in the chamber. Ridore reportedly told school administrators that “someone” gave him the gun.

Post Miranda, Ridore reportedly said he brought the gun to school to protect himself against another student who was mad at him for reporting his smoking in the bathroom. He said he did not intend to use the firearm first but believed that the other student had access to a firearm.

According to the report, Ridore had shown his friend the gun on Facetime about three weeks before the incident at school and also said at that time that it was his.

Ridore has been charged with possession of a firearm on school property and illegally concealing a firearm, both felonies.

About a week after the incident, Gainesville Police Department applied for a Risk Protection Order, prohibiting Ridore from possessing firearms because he poses a significant risk of harming himself or others in the near future.

According to the petition, Ridore brought the gun to school to “defend himself” against violence, and investigators learned that Ridore had threatened to kill another student’s younger sibling because he believed the student was circulating rumors about him; the sibling attends Littlewood Elementary School (currently sharing a campus with Westwood). Ridore also reportedly knows where the other student lives.

On February 13, Judge Susanne Wilson Bullard entered a Final Risk Protection Order, ordering Ridore to surrender any firearms and prohibiting him from possessing any firearms or ammunition for 12 months.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.