By Delayna Earley
The Island News
Two students have been charged after allegedly bringing guns to a Beaufort County school on Wednesday, March 12.
Battery Creek High School was under lockdown for several hours after the first gun was found on a student around 11:30 a.m., according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
The student was searched by police after they received an anonymous tip regarding possible suspicious activity, and information from the first student led police to interrogate a second Battery Creek student, who was found with a handgun roughly an hour after the lockdown started.
As both students are minors, their names are not being released by police, but they have both been petitioned to family court on felony charges of possessing a firearm on school property.
The lockdown was lifted by officials around 3:15 p.m. and all afterschool activities were canceled for the day according to the communication sent to parents from the Beaufort County School District (BCSD).
No additional information has been released as to why the students had the guns at the school, but the communication sent to parents said that “there was no direct threat made to students or staff.”
Out of an abundance of caution, there was an increased police presence at the school for the remainder of the week, according to BCSD spokesperson Candace Bruder.
Not only do the two students face criminal charges, but as per district policy, any student found in possession of a firearm on campus is put up for expulsion said Bruder.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
