Student brings a gun to East Mecklenburg High, latest incident in CMS this year

A gun confiscated at East Mecklenburg High on Tuesday became the latest episode in a season that has alarmed Charlotte-Mecklenburg students, families and faculty, with a fatal shooting at Butler High on Oct. 29 and a Tuesday lockdown after a social media threat at Olympic High.

The East Meck gun was located without incident after the school got a tip that a student had brought a gun, according to a statement from Principal Rick Parker. It is at least the seventh gun found on CMS school grounds since classes began in late August.

The Olympic lockdown happened after someone pulled a fire alarm before classes began. As soon as they entered the building, students reported seeing social media posts that indicated one or more students might have a gun on campus. As of early Tuesday afternoon, officials said they had one juvenile in custody but weren’t sure whether there had been a gun at Olympic.

The district declined to release details about the East Meck incident, including the type of gun and whether it was loaded.

CMS traditionally confiscates several guns a year in situations similar to that at East Meck, with someone alerting administration to the situation and no one harmed. Students caught with guns generally face criminal charges and long-term suspension or expulsion.

At Butler, one student was fatally shot just before classes began on Oct. 29 and another was charged with murder. Officials and students say the brief clash outside the school cafeteria on a Monday morning appeared to follow a fight between several students the previous Friday night.

Soon after the shooting at the Matthews school, guns were confiscated at Garinger High in east Charlotte and Hopewell High in Huntersville. Superintendent Clayton Wilcox told the Observer the incidents do not appear to be connected.

But he was rattled enough by the spate of gun incidents, even before students returned from their Veterans Day holiday on Monday, to tell the school board he will consider more extreme security measures than he had previously entertained, including metal detectors and bag searches.

“We just can’t seem as a community to get our hearts and minds around keeping guns out of the hands of our kids,” Wilcox told the school board last week.

This story was originally published November 13, 2018 at 1:15 PM.