Rancho Cucamonga Teacher On Administrative Leave For Keeping Firearm In Classroom

RANCHO CUCAMONGA (CBSLA) — A teacher at Rancho Cucamonga High School has been placed on administrative leave after school administrators found out he kept a firearm inside his classroom.

The teacher, a reserve police officer, reportedly kept the firearm in a locked cabinet.

The teacher's friend Ashley Biering told CBSLA that school officials took his badge, service weapon, and have placed him on administrative leave.

The principal of the high school left a voicemail to parents informing them of the situation.

Mother Shekeytha Thompson said she doesn't care that the teacher is a sworn officer with a concealed carry permit.

"I don't think he should have it. What if a student gets into that cabinet?" said Thompson.

Fabian Ojeda, a junior at the high school said, "You have that sense of protection, in a way."

Biering says her friend is a hero and a fellow Route 91 Harvest Music Festival mass shooting survivor who carried an injured friend on his back for a mile.

The Chaffey Unified School District released a statement saying in part, "The teacher would not face any criminal penalty for carrying or possessing a firearm on school premises. Nonetheless, the district maintains a policy regulation that prohibits any employee, with the exception of the district's Director of Safety and campus officers, from bringing firearms onto school premises."

A Change.org petition was made in hopes to save the teacher's 21-year teaching career.

The petition has already accumulated almost 4,000 signatures.