ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, Md. — A substitute teacher barred from classrooms for bringing a loaded gun onto school property now faces seven criminal charges.
Derric Simms, a 45-year-old man from Baltimore, was arrested and charged after bringing a loaded, 9mm Taurus handgun inside of Glen Burnie High School Friday. Simms’ gun was discovered by another teacher after he left the backpack he was using to conceal the gun in the classroom. The teacher reported his findings to the principal right away, resulting in the school going into a lockdown, while school resource officers investigated who the backpack belonged to.
Officers connected the bag back to Simms. Once he admitted it was his, he was immediately arrested. According to charging documents, Simms told officers that the gun was registered to him in North Carolina and his wife may have placed it in the bag by mistake.
Investigators determined that Simms has been prohibited from owning a firearm and ammunition due to a previous violent felony conviction. Through this investigation, law enforcement learned that the handgun was not registered in North Carolina, nor was it stolen.
Now, Simms is facing seven charges, including firearm possession with a criminal violent felony conviction, having a dangerous weapon on school property, illegal possession of a handgun, and four other gun-related charges. In total, he faces 30 years in prison. It is currently unknown when Simms will appear in court for his first hearing.
Following the lockdown, Principal Kevin Carr sent out a letter informing parents of what took place.
"I want to be clear that we have no evidence at this time that the backpack was in the possession of any student today," Carr's letter said. "We also have no information that the handgun was ever taken out of the backpack. The person identified in this incident has been barred from serving as a substitute teacher or acting in any other role in our school system."
Some parents are questioning why a more thorough background check isn’t being conducted for substitute teachers.