Beaufort County middle school student was stopped before coming to school with BB gun

A Lady’s Island Middle School student with a BB pistol in his backpack was stopped early Tuesday morning before he entered the building, according to a letter sent to parents by the school’s principal.

The letter’s legitimacy was confirmed by Beaufort County School District spokesman Jim Foster on Tuesday evening. He also said the student was a male detained on school grounds before he entered the building.

Foster declined to comment on what disciplinary action the student may face, citing student privacy laws, but said the district’s Code of Conduct would be followed.

Law enforcement is investigating how the child came to have the gun, WJCL reported. The student’s name and age were not mentioned in the letter.

May River High School parents contacted the Bluffton school officials Tuesday morning about a possible threat on campus, but Beaufort County School District assured the community they had no information about a credible threat to students’ safety.

In early February, a 17-year-old Islands Academy student was arrested after school officials found a pellet gun in his backpack. A black pellet gun and a container of pellets were found inside a laptop case in the student’s backpack at the end of the school day, according to a Sheriff’s Office report. The student was charged with possession of a weapon on school property, a felony, according to online Beaufort County Detention Center records.

This story was originally published February 20, 2018 at 7:01 PM with the headline "Beaufort County middle school student was stopped before coming to school with BB gun."