A 15-year-old Sandy Creek High School student has been charged with taking an AR-15 pistol and ammo on campus. The gun was not fired, said Sheriff Barry Babb, with an investigation showing that the student had “no event planned with the weapon.”
Babb said Sandy Creek High School administrators on April 21 contacted the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office regarding a tip of a possible firearm at the school.
“A sheriff’s office School Resource Officer, assigned to the high school, along with school staff, quickly responded, locating an AR-15 pistol in a backpack with 32 rounds,” Babb said. “The initial investigation determined the student was acting alone and had no event planned with the weapon.”
Babb said the weapon belonged to the student’s parent and is typically kept in a safe.
The 15-year-old juvenile was arrested and charged with the possession of a weapon on school property, Babb added.
During the first appearance hearing the juvenile was ordered to be held at the Youth Detention Center until May 5, Babb explained.
“If there is one thing we have learned from this incident, it is that several students knew the weapon was on school property. I encourage students to use the school’s anonymous tip system for future incidents like this one. I would also urge every parent to have a discussion with their student to please get involved and not hesitate to notify an authority of a weapon or any dangerous activity. Someone’s life, including their own, may depend on it,” Babb said.
Sandy Creek Principal Richard Smith in a letter to parents said, “Today we were made aware that one of our students brought a weapon on campus. We immediately conducted an investigation and secured the weapon. The student has been taken into custody by law enforcement. There were no injuries to students or staff as a result of this incident.”
Smith commended the students who provided the information to school administration.
“Thanks to their diligent efforts, we were able to act quickly to protect the safety of our school community,” said Smith, adding a word for parents. “I encourage you to take time to talk to your student about the seriousness of bringing a weapon to school. These incidents can carry life-long detrimental consequences. Also, remind them about the importance of reporting anything they see or hear that could threaten the safety of students and staff.”
This incident is a wake-up call to all Fayette County gun owners who happen to be parents. Secure your guns. Keep them locked up. Some of our Fayette County police departments participate in the free distribution of a gun locking device (Project ChildSafe). Call and get one now and use it.
What an incredible tragedy this could have been. It appears that many students in this school knew that this student had a gun in school. And yet, most didn’t report it. Fayette County Schools need to act on this immediately. Bad enough that a student brought a gun and ammo to school but to think that students knew it and did nothing is a warning that we shouldn’t miss. We need a thorough investigation. How many students knew about it, saw the gun, or heard about it from others? Why didn’t students report it? Did they not know how to report it? Did they like the kid and thought he’d get in trouble? Did they not want to be a snitch? It appears to me that our students need to be educated on gun safety and public safety measures. I hope our school system responds.
@ joannetk- Yes, parents need to talk to their children and find out why more didn’t report it. And, like you, I hope that parents, moving forward, will educate their children on gun safety and public safety measures. At least some of the kids had some common sense, right? What a scary day for SCHS. Really scary.
Is that image showing the pistol that was brought to school? Or is that a stock image? In my state (Washington) we have a law that would allow prosecution of the parents for not locking up the firearm. Do you have that there?
BTW- it seems that the white supremacists all over are posting hateful messages on local news sites. They need to crawl back into the hole they came out of.
Hi 34TL34D
When I was in High School on any given Fall or Winter weekday there were 15 or 20 guns on campus, brought to school by male students….on gunracks in pick up trucks so they could go hunting after school (1966-1971).
Yes I’m a Lilly white old guy and appalled at what is going on…our nation is falling apart and older adults are totally freaked out.
I’ve been watching the progression for almost 70 years.
While it may already too late to ‘save’ Fayetteville from the LOW LIFE, CRIMINAL, THUG GARBAGE coming out of Riverdale, Clayton County and locations to the North and East travelling down GA Highway 85, it is NOT TOO LATE to protect Peachtree City from the LAW BREAKING and MENACING FILTH coming down GA Highway 74 through Tyrone. I highly encourage the PTC Police, the Tyrone Police, the Fayette County Sheriffs’ Department and the Georgia State Patrol to drastically step up their visible and undercover patrolling efforts along GA Highway 74 as it transits through Tyrone and on into Peachtree City. The ever-increasing incidents of crime in The Kedron Shopping centers by YOU KNOW WHO is a matter of some serious concern that cries out for increased vigilance!
Your comment has nothing to do with this article, as far as I can tell. Maybe go to school and learn to write.
Sandy Creek is now fully a South Fulton school.
Tyrone was annexed and targeted between 1999-2006 by all of the sub-prime borrowers from Atlanta, CA, NY, and FL
A huge influx of sub prime home buyers who bought out the Wieland developments and then were massively foreclosed between 2007-2012.
I agree….plus they carved up a district for a special select of people, which basically turned into a one race district.
My experience with sub prime was the destruction of whole areas of Tyrone.
Interesting observation Mr. Hardy. However, I recently read in the Citizen that serious crime was DOWN 11% in Fayetteville and 14% in Peachtree City. Maybe those horrible ethnics from Clayton County you and Boulder blame for everything evil are easing up.
Go back to Fox News now to validate your lily white narrative.
Truth is stranger than fiction.
10/4 Stranger than Fiction…I will return to my cave but as I go I ask of you’all:
What does 11% and 14% really mean…down from what…is it acceptable to you, should any of this influx of crime be acceptable just because of numbers?
Yes I’m a lilly white ethnic…if I go to Clayton of Fulton Co…this lilly white ethnic (or groups of said “lilly white ethnics) probably would not raise the crime rate …what do you think?
Mr. Hardy – The main error in your posts is that you are painting with a very broad brush. The overwhelming majority of black and brown citizens want exactly the same safety and prosperity that you seem to be ascribing exclusively to Caucasians.
Any violent crime is too much for good citizens, and the recent upturn in violent crime in the United States is tragic. However, the homicide rate was substantially higher when Ronald Reagan was president than it is today. Despite what seems to play on an endless loop in conservative media outlets, we are not living in an unprecedented criminal environment.
I agree that your presence in a neighboring county would not increase the criminal element, but not because of your ethnicity. People who are older and have financial means almost never commit violent crime, and when they do, it is typically fueled by passion against people they know.
Crime is a very complicated topic, and my observations only scratch the surface of the salient issues involved. I hope you will emerge from your “cave” and consider the complexity of this issue instead of maintaining a simplistic ethnocentric explanation that blames the nefarious “other.”