A Dunnellon dad was arrested Wednesday after reportedly threatening to shoot students at Dunnellon Middle School.
Three students told a Marion County Sheriff’s Office school resource officer they heard Arthur David Pittman Sr., 35, of 51 N. Hwy 41, say he had a gun and was ready to shoot six kids.
Shortly afterward, Pittman went to a classroom and began yelling at his son, saying, “I have a gun and will shoot anyone that breaks into my bedroom and steals my stuff.”
No other students were present and the teacher said Pittman was yelling in his son’s face the entire time. The resource officer was summoned to the classroom but Pittman had left the campus by the time he arrived.
The resource officer notified dispatch to have two sheriff’s deputies respond to Pittman’s residence. When they arrived, he told them he owns a Smith & Wesson 9mm handgun but it was locked in the safe. He wouldn’t allow them to see the gun and refused to say anything else to them.
Pittman, who was arrested earlier this year on drug charges, was taken into custody and charged with disturbing the peace and interfering with school administration functions. He was released from the Marion County Jail on $1,000 bond. No court date was set.