Miami Mom Brings Gun to School in Drop-Off Meltdown

It was the first day of school in Miami, and instead of a fresh start, one mom allegedly decided to treat the elementary school parking lot like a scene out of Vice City.

According to Miami-Dade Schools Police, 39-year-old Erika Letisha Cruz was dropping off at Arcola Lake Elementary Thursday morning when she got into it with another parent who was walking her disabled son to class. Cruz allegedly leaned on the horn, shouted at the mom to “hurry the [expletive] up,” and even clipped the other mother’s car before things went completely off the rails.

The victim told police Cruz then got out with a purse and threatened to “shoot [her] in the face” if she said another word. Imagine that. Trying to get your kid into school safely on the first day of the year, and suddenly you’re staring down a gun threat in the drop-off lane.

Police say they detained Cruz, took her purse, and inside found a loaded Sig Sauer P238 pistol (for all you gun nerds out there) with four rounds in the magazine but no round chambered. I wonder what happened to the absent rounds. Cruz admitted the gun was hers but tried the classic excuse of she ‘didn’t know’ it was in the bag. Right. Because people just forget when they’re carrying around a firearm at an elementary school.

Now she’s facing a list of charges including possession of a firearm on school property, aggravated assault with a firearm, and aggravated battery. Not exactly how most parents plan to start the school year.

I’m all for women defending themselves in this day and age. The world isn’t getting any safer, and people, especially women, have every right to carry protection if they choose within the limits of the law. But there’s a canyon-sized difference between protecting yourself and threatening to shoot someone in the face over a parking lot spat. That’s not self-defense. That’s entitlement with a gun.

This case also highlights a bigger problem we keep seeing. Too many people think owning a gun gives them the right to do whatever they want. They treat the weapon like a license to escalate instead of a last line of defense. It’s the ‘I’ve got a gun, so I win’ mentality. And when that spills over into school grounds, everyone loses.

Thankfully, nobody was physically shot in this mess, but let’s not sugarcoat it. A disabled kid and his mom had their lives threatened because someone couldn’t handle waiting an extra thirty seconds at drop-off. That’s where we’re at now. Every minor inconvenience is a potential flashpoint because some folks believe their gun gives them authority over everyone else.

And now, instead of just making it through a hectic first-day-of-school morning, Cruz gets to explain to a judge why she thought pulling the “shoot you in the face” card was a good idea in front of a school.

(Source)