Suspect accused of sneaking into Zephyrhills High School to rob students, attacks teen in bathroom

A 20-year-old man is charged with sneaking into Zephyrhills High School to rob students, before attacking a teenager in a bathroom, investigators said on Wednesday.

Timeline:

According to the arrest affidavit, Pasco County deputies said Keyshawn Gardner was wearing a ski mask when he jumped a fence to get onto the high school's campus. A district spokesperson told FOX 13 another student mistakenly let Gardner into the school, thinking he was supposed to be there.

Alicia Hussey said her son was in the bathroom when Gardner entered and began demanding people's belongings.

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"He was taking money, phones, anything of value that he could get from any of the students in the bathroom," Hussey said. "No students knew who he was, no adults knew who he was. And so that's what kind of was making it even scarier is that a stranger, an adult stranger, is coming onto the campus doing this to the students."

Hussey said her 16-year-old son refused to hand over his items and tried to defend other students from Gardner, leading to a fight in the bathroom. Cell phone video of the fight shows Gardner in a red hooded sweatshirt, wearing a ski mask and gloves.

"He was on campus for a total of 12 minutes from the time he got in and did all that and then left," Hussey said, adding, "it could have been so much worse."

What they're saying:

The district told FOX 13, although this situation appears to be a student's error and not a gap in security, the school is still reviewing its protocol.

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"It just reminds you to keep reteaching those procedures, remind students, staff, parents, everyone, that those safety procedures are in place for a reason." said Toni Zetzsche, a spokesperson for Pasco schools. "Anything that happens on our campus, the smallest safety issue, you know, to the biggest safety issue at all, it all stings. It all makes us reevaluate our procedures."

Suspect's Charges:

Pasco deputies said they tracked down Gardner at his home later that day, where he was hiding in a bathtub. He's charged with robbery and burglary with battery.

The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Aaron Mesmer, who interviewed the victim's mother and spoke with school district officials. 

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