Loaded firearm found in CMS random screening

A loaded firearm was confiscated during a random safety screening at a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools summer school site, officials said, the first time a gun has been found in the routine searches since they began in January.

The weapon was found by a firearms detection dog that searched through students’ bags, the district said. The Wednesday morning screening at Rocky River High School, which serves as a summer site for high school students from multiple schools in the district, is part of the district’s expanded safety efforts announced in November.

The screenings occur at randomly selected schools, where backpacks are searched and students are wanded to detect weapons. All summer school students at Rocky River were wanded and their personal items searched.

One person was taken into custody and is being charged, officials said, and all students and staff are safe with no threat of harm. CMS police also confiscated a non-lethal, Taser-like device in Wednesday’s search.

Superintendent Clayton Wilcox has said that the random screenings are meant to deter students from bringing weapons to school. Past searches have turned up contraband such as pepper spray, over the counter medication and tobacco, but no guns.

The searches were the most dramatic of a number of enhancements to CMS’s safety policy announced last fall. The changes were made in the wake of a fatal shooting at Butler High School on Oct. 29, as well as gun incidents at four more high schools in the following three weeks.

Wanding and bag searches were chosen as an alternative to installing metal detectors. Other safety measures implemented as part of the plan included additional cameras, panic cards for teachers, increased communication with parents and hiring more guidance counselors, social workers and psychologists.

Outside of the screenings, 16 guns have been found on CMS property this school year, including one earlier this month on the grounds of Independence High School. The total includes guns found outside school buildings and when school was not in session. Of those, 11 were found in a CMS school during school hours.

Nineteen students were caught with guns during the 2016-17 school year, a 10-year high that fell to nine students in 2017-18. This year, CMS said 21 students have been found with with firearms in school, a number that reflects the total number of students who came into contact with a firearm, not the actual number of weapons, district officials said.

This story was originally published June 26, 2019 at 3:27 PM.