A north Fulton County teen who sparked suspicion when he allegedly checked out books about hate crimes and school shootings from his high school library has been arrested and charged with bringing weapons on campus.
Graeme Conor Helmer, an 18-year-old student at Independence High School, Alpharetta, was arrested Thursday and charged with two counts of possession of a weapon on school property – specifically, two military-style knives with 5- and 8-inch blades, and two Airsoft pistols.
Documents obtained by Channel 2 Action News describe how a school counselor alerted a school resources officer at Independence High. The documents show Helmer "checked out several books concerning hate crimes, school shootings, etc. which raised the alarm of school officials."
One document said, “A meeting with the parents of the accused was arranged who concurred with the safety concerns of school officials.”
According to a Fulton County Schools Police Department incident report, Helmer’s parents told school officials Thursday morning their son’s actions were “out of character,” and they would have a talk with him.
After that meeting, an officer spotted a knife in plain sight on the driver’s seat of Helmer’s vehicle in the school parking lot, the police report stated. Officers brought Helmer to the scene, and the youth admitted he had another knife and Airsoft pistols in the vehicle, police said.
Helmer was arrested, charged and booked into Fulton County jail. He has been assigned a bond of $10,000 and a court date of Sept. 28.
Thursday, school Principal Tabatha Taylor sent a letter to Independence High families that said in part, “Today, Fulton County Schools’ police discovered weapons in one of our students’ vehicle. That student was removed from school.”
Classes were not disrupted, and no student or staff member was in harm’s way, Taylor said.
Taylor noted that the Fulton County schools disciplinary code bars students from having weapons of any kind. “Anyone endangering the safety of our school community will be dealt with quickly and severely, including discipline hearings and possible criminal charges,” she said.
Charles Lea, Helmer’s attorney, told Channel 2 that his client and his friends play with Airsoft guns, which fire plastic pellets, and that the youth wasn’t a threat to anyone.
“I think the school acted appropriately when they saw what, objectively speaking, would be signs of a concern, [but] it doesn’t add up to what the school was imagining it might be,” Lea said. “Does he pose a danger to anybody? No absolutely not. … He was not plotting anything.”
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