--- description: Parkland Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School teacher Sean Simpson was arrested after leaving a gun in a public restroom. title: A Parkland Teacher Was Arrested After Leaving a Loaded Gun in a Public Bathroom image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd9e718dbfd298d95/69892d7de76ad2836e631ab2/sean-simpson.png?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Florida](/tag/florida/) ## Florida Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Parkland Teacher Was Arrested After Leaving a Loaded Gun in a Public Bathroom by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Apr 12, 2018 4:11 PM CUT  Broward County Sheriff's Office by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Apr 12, 2018 4:11 PM CUT A [Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School](http://time.com/5178905/students-return-marjory-stoneman-douglas-high-school-florida-shooting/ "undefined") teacher was arrested after leaving a gun in a public restroom, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office said. Sean Simpson, who previously said he would be willing to [come to school armed](http://www.miamiherald.com/news/article208653029.html "undefined") after the Parkland shooting that left 17 people dead, was charged with failing to safely store a firearm after leaving his gun at a men’s bathroom at the Deerfield Beach Pier. According to the arrest report, Simpson told police he left he gun behind by accident while using the bathroom on Sunday. As he returned to retrieve the Glock 43 9mm handgun, Simpson heard a gunshot and found that a man had picked up and fired the gun. Simpson was able to take the gun away from the man, Joseph Spataro, who was charged with firing a weapon while intoxicated and trespassing. Simpson was released after posting a $250 cash bond, the [Miami _Herald_ reports](http://www.miamiherald.com/news/article208653029.html "undefined"). The arrest comes right after the [Broward School Board rejected](http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/broward/article208541419.html "undefined") Florida’s new program to arm school staff unanimously, following the Feb. 14 [shooting at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School](http://time.com/longform/parkland-student-diaries/ "undefined"). Simpson told Local 10 he believed carrying a weapon did not violate the school board’s rules. A district spokesperson said it was unlikely to pursue disciplinary action against him, according to Local 10. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5237817/parkland-marjory-stoneman-teacher-gun/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5237817/parkland-marjory-stoneman-teacher-gun/"},"headline":"A Parkland Teacher Was Arrested After Leaving a Loaded Gun in a Public Bathroom","datePublished":"2018-04-12T16:11:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:57:07.817Z","description":"He previously said he'd be willing to arm himself while at school","url":"https://time.com/5237817/parkland-marjory-stoneman-teacher-gun/","keywords":["Florida","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd9e718dbfd298d95/69892d7de76ad2836e631ab2/sean-simpson.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd9e718dbfd298d95/69892d7de76ad2836e631ab2/sean-simpson.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Sean Simpson","caption":"","creditText":"Broward County Sheriff's Office","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/florida/","name":"Florida"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5237817/parkland-marjory-stoneman-teacher-gun/","name":"A Parkland Teacher Was Arrested After Leaving a Loaded Gun in a Public Bathroom"}}]}] ```