Harnett Schools To Look At Weapon Detectors

By Emily Weaver
Dunn Daily Record

HARNETT COUNTY – A fourth-grader brought a loaded gun to Erwin Elementary on Friday and students say he pointed it at the head of a boy in the bathroom that morning. The gun was safely secured without a shooting, but with this marking the sixth such weapon on the campus of Triangle area schools in a week, parents are demanding help to keep kids safe.

“I just can’t believe it,” one mother said, wiping away tears outside of Erwin Elementary School Friday afternoon. “What if he would have shot? It’s really scary. …”

The students were scared, too.

Two fourth-graders familiar with the incident say a 10-year-old boy pulled the loaded gun from his backpack in a bathroom and threatened another student.

“Whenever the teacher yelled at them to go out of the bathroom, he shoved it in his bookbag and ran out,” one student said. “There were three people in our class bawling their eyes out. … Some of us were trying to comfort the other ones. I’m like, that’s scary. …

“You would never think that a fourth-grader would bring a pistol to school,” the student said, “… in elementary school, especially. Maybe high school, but never elementary school.”

The Harnett County Schools Board of Education will hear a presentation on weapon detection systems in schools at its next meeting at 6 p.m. March 6. The board will also look at the “cost to procure these devices in schools,” said Harnett County Schools’ Superintendent Dr. Aaron Fleming.

But some parents on social media were also advising the district look at other safety measures, too, like clear backpacks and the metal-detecting wands used at ball games.

Gun secured

“The school resource officer and members of the school’s administration were notified that a student had a handgun in his possession Friday morning,” said Erwin Police Chief Jonathan Johnson. “They were able to immediately locate a fourth-grade student who had a gun in his backpack.”

The gun was loaded when law enforcement retrieved it and quickly secured it. 

The school informed parents that a weapon was found and secured on campus Friday afternoon, but mothers, seeking more information, told The Daily Record they didn’t get answers from school officials.

“We can confirm that a weapon was discovered on the campus of Erwin Elementary School,” Natalie Ferrell, public information officer for Harnett County Schools, said on Friday. “Due to the swift actions of the Erwin Police Department and school administration, the weapon was recovered. As an extra safety precaution, additional law enforcement officers are on campus to ensure the safety of all students and staff.

“As a school district, we take all matters of stakeholder safety seriously and work diligently to notify everyone affected as soon as possible.”

One mother said she wasn’t notified at all. 

Although parents were frustrated with school officials on Friday, they were grateful for School Resource Officer William Smith. This was Smith’s second week on the job at Erwin Elementary.

“He’s a very good officer,” one mother said. “He’s always (making rounds) on the perimeter. Every time I come, I see him. He is on it.”

Erwin police continued to investigate the incident on Monday, talking with more students who were out for the Presidents Day holiday. An arrest was expected, soon, in the case.

Students, who bring firearms to school — loaded or not, face an automatic 365-day suspension, as required by law. 

Sixth time in a week

Friday’s incident marked the sixth time a gun was reported on school campuses in the Triangle area last week.

An unloaded gun was recovered from a 6-year-old’s backpack at Fairview Elementary in Rocky Mount on Tuesday, according to Rocky Mount police.

Also, on Tuesday, the principal at Wendell Middle School announced a student had a gun on campus. The student’s mother was charged with improperly storing a firearm.

On Wednesday, a school resource officer with the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office found a 9mm handgun, 9mm ammunition, a fixed blade knife and drug paraphernalia in the car of a student “acting abnormally” at Cleveland High School. The student, 18-year-old Juelle Amos Thomas, was arrested and charged with having a gun on educational property (a felony), having a weapon on educational property and possessing drug paraphernalia (both misdemeanors).

Thomas, of Smithfield, was placed in the Johnston County Jail under an $11,000 secured bond.

Also, on Wednesday, 43-year-old Shelby Lumpkin was arrested and charged for carrying a weapon on the campus of Green Elementary School in Raleigh when people saw it holstered to his side. The weapon “was not used in a threatening or dangerous manner,” according to Raleigh police.

And on Friday, more weapons were found in the possession of a student on the campus of Nick Jerald’s Middle School in Fayetteville.

“A vigilant student reported to the school administration that a weapon was possibly on campus. A search was conducted, and an unloaded .380 handgun, pocket knife, and eyebrow razor blade were located,” according to a release from the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office. 

The juvenile student -— unnamed due to his age — was charged with possessing a firearm on campus.