School officials: Student arrested for bringing gun to school (2024)

FIRST, AT FIVE, WE BEGIN IN ANDERSON COUNTY, WHERE THIS MORNING A STUDENT WAS ARRESTED FOR TAKING A GUN TO SCHOOL. AND AS OUR PEYTON FURTADO TELLS US, THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME ANDERSON COUNTY HAS DEALT WITH WEAPONS ON CAMPUS. RIGHT? PEYTON? UNFORTUNATELY NOT RIGHT. SYDNEY. YEAH. OF COURSE. ANDERSON. DISTRICT FOUR, TOWNVILLE ELEMENTARY HAD THAT FATAL SHOOTING ALMOST A DECADE AGO. NOW. ACTUALLY. ANDERSON. DISTRICT FIVE. THAT’S WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW. THEY’VE HAD A FEW INCIDENTS WITH PEOPLE BRINGING GUNS INTO SCHOOL, INCLUDING ONE AS RECENTLY AS LAST YEAR. THAT’S WHY OFFICIALS ARE MOVING MORE IN THE DIRECTION OF PREVENTION. SINCE FEBRUARY OF LAST YEAR, AN ANDERSON DISTRICT FIVE INVESTMENT HAS PAID OFF. WE HAD AN INCIDENT LAST YEAR WHERE WE FOUND A WEAPON AT WESTSIDE HIGH SCHOOL. WE FOUND ONE THIS YEAR AND I MEAN, YEAH, YOU CAN’T PUT REALLY A PRICE ON SAFETY. EVERY MORNING, STUDENTS WALK THROUGH THE EVOLVED WEAPONS DETECTION SYSTEM AT T.L. HANNA HIGH AND WESTSIDE HIGH. THE SYSTEM LOOKS FOR CERTAIN SHAPES. SO, FOR EXAMPLE, IF IT WAS ON THE BODY OR IF IT WAS ON THE BACKPACK, THAT WOULD BE TYPICALLY THE AREA WE GO TO FIRST. THIS MORNING SHERIFF’S DEPUTIES SAY IT UNCOVERED A HANDGUN AND A 14 YEAR OLD’S GYM BAG AT T.L. HANNA. THERE WASN’T, YOU KNOW, ANY BIG COMMOTION OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT, ACTUALLY, FROM THE PRELIMINARY INFORMATION SENT FROM THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE, IT LOOKS LIKE THE GUN WAS INADVERTENTLY PUT IN THE BAG. THEY DON’T FEEL LIKE THERE WAS ANY ILL INTENT OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT. THAT 14 YEAR OLD HAS BEEN TAKEN INTO CUSTODY AND WILL BE TURNED OVER TO THE DEPARTMENT OF JUVENILE JUSTICE. IN COLUMBIA. IN THE MEANTIME, DISTRICT STAFF FEEL MORE CONFIDENT THE SYSTEM HAS IMPROVED, UTILIZES ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND SO FROM WHEN WE PUT IT IN TWO YEARS AGO TO NOW, WE HAVE A LOT LESS FALSE HITS. WHEN WE FIRST PUT IT IN, IT WOULD HIT ON LIKE UMBRELLAS. YOU KNOW, QUITE OFTEN CHROMEBOOKS AND ALL THAT KIND OF STUFF, ALERTING SCHOOL STAFF TO DANGER. ALLEVIATING FEARS OF A WORST CASE SCENARIO. AND PEYTON, YOU TALKED ABOUT HOW THIS WAS AN INVESTMENT FOR ANDERSON DISTRICT FIVE. JUST HOW MUCH OF AN INVESTMENT ARE WE TALKING? YEAH, MARK, I’M TOLD THEY. INVESTED $467,000 IN THESE UNITS HERE AT T.L. HANNA HIGH SCHOOL AND WESTSIDE HIGH SCHOOL. THAT’S THE OTHER ONE. THEY HAVE UPPED THAT RECENTLY. I’M TOLD THEY BOUGHT FOUR NEW MOBILE EVOLVED WEAPONS DETECTION SYSTEM UNITS THIS WEEK. THEY PLAN ON ROLLING THOSE OUT AT SOME FOOTBALL GAMES COMING UP LIVE