Sgt. Chad Payne, information officer for the Dade County Sheriff's Office, released this report on the case of two students who were arrested for weapons violations at Dade County High School on Friday.
On Friday, March 2, the Dade County Sheriff’s Office was notified that the principal at Dade County High School had located a student with a handgun, that staffers had already taken the handgun off of the student, and they had placed the school on a “soft/yellow” lockdown.
The Dade County Sheriff’s Office responded to the school and took possession of the handgun (.38 revolver). After a very brief investigation into the incident, it was determined that two 17-year-old males would be taken into custody for possession of a firearm on school property (felony, GA Code 16-11-127.1).
The handgun was not loaded at the time of this incident, and there was no ammunition located on the subjects. There was no indication of a threat toward the school, any student, or any staff member.
Although there was no threat associated with this incident, we want to give praise to the staff at Dade County High School. This entire incident was discovered by an observant sssistant principal. He observed two students “acting odd” and followed through with his suspicions, ultimately resulting in recovering the handgun.
Sheriff Ray Cross wants the youth in this county to know that these types of incidents are extremely serious and will be dealt with as such. Like the threat at the high school from two days ago, any incident involving threats or weapons in the school system will be prosecuted to the fullest extent that Georgia law allows. He wants everyone to know that these types of bad decisions can have lifelong consequences, and you must think before you act.
There will be additional charges for these two males, and their identities will be released at a later date. As more information becomes available, it will be provided.
Editor's Note: Dr. Jan Harris, superintendent of schools, clarified in a text Friday afternoon that the handgun in question had been brought to the school for sale from one of the students to the other. Sgt. Payne has subsequently identified the two students arrested, but The Planet will not publish their names because of their age.
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