Beaufort Co. student photographed with a pistol, tells friend ‘I’m ready for school’, report says

A student at Islands Academy was disciplined after he sent a friend a photo of himself posing with a pistol and a bottle of alcohol and a caption that read “I’m ready for school,” a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report states.

Francina Dantzler, assistant principal at the Beaufort County School District’s alternative school, reported the incident to the Sheriff’s Office on Oct. 12.

Dantzler told deputies that a parent of another Islands Academy student sent her a copy of the photo to alert her to a possible threat to the school.

After seeing the photo, school staff searched the student, his locker and the vehicle in which he came to school in. They did not locate any alcohol or weapons but did discover ammunition in the car, which belonged to the student’s friend, the report stated.

The student told deputies that he went to a party the night before and took the photo because he “thought it would be funny to show off to his friend,” a deputy wrote in the report.

He further stated that the gun belonged to an unknown friend and that the friend took the gun back after the photo, the report said.

The friend who drove the student to school told deputies that the car belonged to his father who was “constantly leaving ammunition from shooting inside his vehicle.”

He also told deputies that the student who sent the photo “doesn’t really talk to anyone but would never hurt someone who hadn’t done something to him,” a deputy wrote in the report.

Following the interviews, the student who sent the photo was placed in handcuffs and transported to the Sheriff’s Office, but no criminal charges were filed.

Jim Foster, spokesperson for the Beaufort County School District, could not comment on the specific disciplinary action taken against the student.

However, Foster did state that the incident fell under a “level four” violation of the district’s Code for Student Conduct, which is punishable with up to 10 days of out of school suspension with a recommendation for expulsion.

The incident marks at least the sixth time a perceived threat has been made against a school within the Beaufort County School District so far this year.

The last incident occurred on Oct. 2 when a student at Hilton Head Island High School threatened a teacher and fellow classmates with a pocket knife.