Michigan student, 17, brought gun to school not far from deadly mass shooting day earlier, police say
The police commended a student who alerted the principal to the potential danger
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Detroit-area teenager was arrested for bringing a handgun inside a school Wednesday, a day after a student at another high school several miles away killed four students and wounded several others in a deadly shooting, authorities said.
The Southfield Police Department said Thursday the 17-year-old boy attended the Southfield Regional Academic Campus. The school principal contacted a school resource officer around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday after receiving a tip from a student that a student was possibly carrying a gun, officials said.
The unidentified student was removed from a classroom, and a purple Bersa Thunder .380-caliber gun was found in his coat pocket, Barren said. The magazine contained three bullets, but no rounds were loaded in the gun's chamber.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}MICHIGAN HIGH SCHOOL TEEN KILLED IN SHOOTING WAS 'HERO', CLASSMATES SAY
Southfield Police Chief Elvin Barren speaks with reporters about a teenager arrested after the boy was found with a loaded handgun in school just miles away from where a student at another high school killed four classmates and wounded several others a day earlier. (Southfield Police Department )
"Our findings suggest that the student is known to carry a weapon and had been carrying this weapon for quite some time, maybe as much as several weeks," Southfield Police Chief Elvin Barren said at a Thursday press conference. "Guns will get you in more trouble than they will ever get you out of."
The teen arrested told authorities he found the weapon.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Authorities said it doesn't appear as if the incident was a copycat following a deadly shooting on Tuesday at Oxford High School in a nearby suburb. The 15-year-old suspect in that case, Ethan Crumbley, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder, seven counts of assault with intent to murder and other crimes.
Ethan Crumbly mugshot (Oakland County Sheriff's Office)
Barren commended the student who alerted the principal about the weapon, calling his actions courageous.
He said the incident appeared to be a "poor decision from this young man to not only carry a weapon, but carry a weapon on school property."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The gun will be analyzed to determine if it has been used in any crimes, and the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office will decide whether the teen will be charged as a minor or an adult, the chief said.
He cautioned that firearms sometimes tend to give the people possessing them a false sense of power.
Parents walk away with their children from the Meijer's parking lot in Oxford, Michigan, where many students gathered following an active shooter situation at Oxford High School on Tuesday. (Eric Seals-USA TODAY NETWORK)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"When they have these weapons, the first time there's an argument — a disagreement — they want to introduce these weapons into that scenario," he said. "We see this play out time and time again."