A second Forsyth County middle school student was charged Wednesday, one day after their classmate was arrested after taking a loaded gun to campus, authorities said.
On Tuesday, a 14-year-old at Little Mill Middle School was taken into custody after being found with a 9 mm pistol in his waistband, the sheriff’s office said. Law enforcement confirmed the weapon had been properly stored by the teenager’s parents.
The second student tied to the incident is accused of being aware that the suspect took the gun to school and not reporting the weapon to school officials. He is facing a charge of terroristic threats and was subsequently removed from the school.
According to the sheriff’s office, the two students spoke about the weapon, and the second suspect even recorded a video of the student and the firearm. The video was allegedly recorded during the school day and posted to social media.
Officials clarified that the second student, who was not publicly identified, “did not have any part” in the teen originally taking the firearm onto the campus off Browns Bridge Road.
The sheriff’s office was notified after another student reported the weapon to administrators. That suspect was then pulled from class and searched by a resource officer. No one was injured.
“I am grateful that a brave student came forward to report this firearm on campus. They are the heroes of this story, and this is how we keep our school safe,” Sheriff Ron Freeman said in a statement. “On the other side of this, those that did not report it, such as this second juvenile, who even posted it to social media, will be held accountable for their actions.”
On Thursday, the sheriff’s office said the gun had been “properly secured” in the home by the 14-year-old’s parents and he “secretly accessed the locked storage container without parental awareness.”
Savannah recently strengthened its laws to keep guns from getting in the hands of criminals and sometimes even children. The city became the first in the state to outlaw leaving guns in unlocked cars. Revisions to the local gun laws also require residents to report the theft of firearms from vehicles to police.
Over the past few days, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reached out to nearly two dozen law enforcement agencies and prosecutors across metro Atlanta and Georgia, who all stated the same thing: They do not have similar laws or ordinances as Savannah. Some officials were aware and found the idea interesting, while others were not in favor.
Residents were still encouraged to keep their firearms secured.
“As of yet, we do not have any such laws or similar ordinances,” Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said. “I guess Gwinnett wants people to use common sense in these matters.”
— Staff reporter David Aaro contributed to this article.
