Teen caught with loaded gun on bus, NC cops say. ‘Could have been a terrible nightmare’
A teenager riding a school bus was caught with drugs and a loaded gun in Eastern North Carolina, officials said.
The bus was stopped in front of a middle school when deputies said the driver smelled marijuana. Officials told a school resource officer, who discovered a high school student on board had drugs and “what appeared to be an AK-47 pistol” with a loaded magazine, according to Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten.
“This could have been a terrible nightmare for our community,” Wooten said in video of a Dec. 8 news conference.
Officials said the incident forced a lockdown at River Road Middle School in Elizabeth City, roughly 165 miles northeast of Raleigh. Northeastern High School, where the teen reportedly was a student, also went into lockdown mode on Dec. 8.
“We felt it obviously necessary to go to Northeastern High School, lock River Road down, lock Northeastern High School down, so we could search the entire school — every classroom every building” with Elizabeth City police, Wooten said during the news conference.
The gun was discovered on a school bus at about 9:20 a.m., The Daily Advance and WTKR reported. Officials announced about four hours later that lockdowns had been lifted.
As of that afternoon, officials said the incident and the teen’s possible intentions were still under investigation. Eddie Ingram, interim superintendent for Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools, applauded officials’ response and said these types of incidents offer opportunities to re-examine protocols.
“Certainly we will take time to reflect on all of our actions, policies and procedures so that we can be even better prepared,” Ingram said during the news conference.
The teen — who deputies didn’t identify — is facing multiple charges, including possession of a firearm on school grounds, carry concealed firearm, possession of a weapon of mass destruction, possession of a stolen firearm and possession of marijuana, officials said.
Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office in their news conference didn’t share additional details about the possible “AK-47 pistol,” and the department didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ requests for additional information on Dec. 9.
