After authorities released her from jail, a Florida elementary school teacher told reporters to ask the state’s governor why she brought weapons on campus on May 20.
According to WFLA, Betty Soto, 49, reportedly carried the weapons in her backpack to Starkey Elementary School in Seminole on Monday.
The school district claims that Soto had been acting suspicious Monday morning. For example, the fourth-grade teacher reportedly took the backpack containing the weapons everywhere she went. Soto appeared to be guarding the bag closely.
Further, Erica Kennedy, a parent of two students at Starkey Elementary, noticed Soto was a little snappy with the children.
She said:
“She seemed very abrupt, the way she was speaking. I almost felt like she was talking to these kids like she was their parent, you know, just really, a little overboard. So, it made me kind of, something kind of went up in the back of my hair like, hmmm.”
The school’s principal became concerned about her “strange” behavior and contacted police, WFLA reports.
Deputies report the weapons – Glock 9mm handgun loaded with seven rounds of ammunition, a six-inch fighting knife and a two-inch finger knife – were all in her classroom while students were present.
Kennedy was in “shock, absolute shock” when she heard the news.
She said:
“I can’t believe something like that would happen at this school. I almost think they’re going to have to start checking teacher’s bags, or maybe even have a metal detector to set something off.”
Police arrested Soto that morning. However, she was released on bond that night a little after 9 p.m., WFLA reports.
As she was leaving the jail, reporters asked Soto why she brought weapons to school.
After pushing the microphone out of her face, Soto reluctantly responded:
“Ask Desantis … Ask your governor.”
CNN reports that Soto seemed to be referencing a bill that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed earlier this month. The bill allows teachers in opt-in school districts to be armed on campus.
However, school employees from districts that choose to participate must “undergo police-style training, psychiatric evaluation, and drug screening.”
School officials told WFLA that investigators will also be examining Soto’s Facebook page which contains a post expressing that she is a “revolutionary.”