Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott announced that a 16 year old male student was arrested and charged with carrying a weapon on school grounds and unlawful carrying of a pistol.
Sheriff Lott stated that on Wednesday, February 3, 2011 students at Richland Northeast High School witnessed a male juvenile with a handgun in his bookbag. The students immediately notified school officials and their School Resource Officer that a fellow student had a handgun. The Richland County School Resource Officer located the student in class who then told the School Resource Officer that he had taken the gun across the street and placed it in the woods. Sheriff Leon Lott sated that the gun was retrieved and the suspect was taken into custody without incident and has been transported to the Department of Juvenile Justice.
Sheriff Lott states that this was an unfortunate incident but applauds the bravery of the students that courageously reported the incident to the appropriate officials. Sheriff Leon Lott emphasizes that this incident stresses the importance of having a School Resource Officer in each school; they truly protect the well being of our students.
Students are encouraged to continue reporting crime because they can report the information without anyone ever knowing that they reported it; it serves as one additional tool to further keep our schools safe. Sheriff Leon Lott states that Student Crimestoppers allows students to receive cash for information that leads to the arrest of anyone responsible for a crime or for information leading to a weapon being seized. Students should call, email or text their anonymous tip to: 1-888-crimesc, email, www.sccrimestoppers.com or, text “TIPSC plus your message” to CRIMES (274637).
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