Beaufort County elementary student brought gun, loaded magazine to school in backpack
A student at Beaufort Elementary School was petitioned to Family Court after police found a handgun and ammunition in his backpack Monday.
School officials found a magazine loaded with ammunition and a black handgun in the student’s backpack after receiving a call from his mother around 12:33 p.m. Monday, according to a report from the Beaufort Police Department. She told the school that she believed her son took the keys to her husband’s gun safe, police said in the report. Police were responding to a shots fired call at the student’s home from the night before when the mother called the school to report the missing keys.
The student, whose name has not been released because he is a minor, allegedly told police he brought the weapon for “self-defense,” according to a report from the Beaufort Police Department.
Police found five .380 caliber rounds in the magazine and one more round of .380 ammunition in the pocket of the student’s pants, the police report said. The student told police he accidentally fired the gun on Sunday night while practicing with the weapon after classmates had threatened to bring knives to school, according to the report.
According to annual report card data from the South Carolina Department of Education, there were no incidents involving a weapon at Beaufort Elementary during the 2020-21 school year. There were two school-related arrests and referrals to law enforcement.
The student was released to his mother and petitioned to Family Court for bringing the weapon to campus.
Beaufort County School District spokesperson Candace Bruder declined to comment on whether Beaufort Elementary was put in lockdown Monday or if additional security measures were being implemented, saying, “We cannot comment on an ongoing law enforcement investigation.”
