Sean Rossman

Democrat staff writer

A 17-year-old connected to shootings earlier this year at Chiles High School and Killearn Lakes Elementary School has been charged with 19 felony charges, including armed burglary, arson and discharging a firearm on school property.

Alexander DeFrank, a former Chiles High School junior who was expelled earlier this school year, is currently in the Leon County Jail and will be charged as an adult, according to the State Attorney's Office.

An investigation by the Leon County Sheriff's Office with the help of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement connected DeFrank to shooting a vehicle on Chiles High School's campus and breaking into a portable building at Killearn Lakes Elementary twice and shooting a gun inside. Authorities also traced guns found in DeFrank's room to an arson.

Neither the school district nor LCSO notified parents, faculty or staff about the shootings, which didn't occur during school hours.

"There was never any indication that any student, school staff member was in danger from these acts of vandalism at the schools," Lt. Tony Drzewiecki, LCSO spokesman, told the Tallahassee Democrat on Friday.

"If there was any indication that there was a threat to students, faculty or staff at the school, the appropriate notifications would have been made," he added.

Leon County Schools spokesman Chris Petley said the school district and the principals of each school did not put out any release to faculty, students or the media for any of the three shooting incidents, which all occurred off-hours when no students or staff were present. Petley did send a statement to a local news station after it inquired about the Chiles incident.

"It was a law-enforcement investigation," Petley said. "We are working with them. That's just the decision we made at the time."

DeFrank had his first appearance Friday. The lawyer representing him, Carlos Lindo, argued that no probable cause exists to charge DeFrank. Lindo chose not to speak with the Democrat.

"We're very fortunate that all of these were done when there were no students," said Assistant State Attorney Jack Campbell. He added the prosecution will "make sure that now that school's back in session that the children at Killearn Lakes and at Chiles and at every other school in Tallahassee are protected."

The LCSO investigation started after the agency received a report May 22 that a vehicle at Chiles was shot multiple times with what appeared to be various rounds. The shooting, according to court documents, was said to have taken place sometime before 5 a.m. A .45-caliber cartridge and a projectile were found at the scene.

Earlier that morning about 3:45 a.m., the Tallahassee Fire Department responded to a suspected arson at a home on Blue Quill Trail and found that a gun safe was empty.

On June 3, deputies responded to Killearn Lakes Elementary School, where a portable building was broken into and the inside was shot multiple times. The outer door locks were pried open and the interior door lock was shot at several times. Several rounds went through the door.

On June 26, the same portable building was broken into and again the inside was shot at multiple times with various caliber rounds. A table inside was "apparently used as a target," according to court documents. Several rounds passed through the table, the building's outer wall and into the school yard and neighboring residential area, court documents said.

LCSO was told by DeFrank's parents in August that they found firearms, a knife and a bayonet in the teenager's room.

In a search, deputies found 10 stolen firearms, including rifles, pistols, revolvers and a shotgun, in DeFrank's room along with spent shell casings, projectiles and live ammunition, court documents said.

Four of those firearms were confirmed to be stolen from the Blue Quill Trail home that was suspected to have been set on fire in May. Five other guns matched the descriptions of the guns stolen from that home. The remaining gun was found to be stolen from a vehicle on Stevens Drive, court documents said.

A Florida Department of Law Enforcement forensics review found that the cartridge casings and projectiles found at the two shootings at Killearn Lakes Elementary and the one shooting at Chiles High were linked to the stolen firearms found in DeFrank's room, court documents said.

DeFrank told deputies that multiple guns, projectiles and spent casings were given to him by a man who asked him to fix and clean them. DeFrank said he found the rest of the guns and knives hidden off a trail. DeFrank could give no other information on the man who he said gave him the guns, according to court documents.

DeFrank was booked into county jail Sept. 12 on 10 charges of grand theft of a firearm and posted bail the next day. He was booked at the jail Thursday on additional charges after the State Attorney's Office got FDLE's forensics review of the evidence found at the scene that connected DeFrank to the shootings.

Petley said all three shooting incidents occurred during the night when no students or staff were present. The school district was aware of the criminal investigation of DeFrank but wasn't notified of his additional charges until Friday morning.

"These incidents quickly became part of a larger active criminal investigation. In mid-August, LCS was made aware of initial felony charges against a former Chiles student, Alex DeFrank - he was immediately expelled from Chiles at the start of the school year," Petley said.

DeFrank's additional charges include arson of a dwelling, two counts of burglary of a structure while armed, burglary of a dwelling with a firearm, two counts of shooting into or within a building and two other counts of discharging a firearm on school property.