LANCASTER, S.C. (News Release) — A loaded .380 caliber pistol was found in the backpack of a kindergartener at Harrisburg Elementary School Wednesday. As students were packing their things for dismissal, a teacher helping the five-year-old student noticed a knife in his bag.
Administration was called, and the school resource officer searched the backpack and found the knife along with the pistol. Both were seized. The studentβs parents were notified and responded to the school.
The incident is under investigation by the Lancaster County Sheriffβs Office, but so far no information has been developed that the student knew the knife and the pistol were in the bag or brought them to school with the intent to present them or use them in a hostile manner toward anyone present.
The sheriffβs investigation is focused on who owns the knife and the pistol and who put them into the backpack, when, and why. No other information on this incident is available at this time.
βThis was an alarming incident, and I am thankful no one was harmed intentionally or accidentally by these weapons,β said Sheriff Barry Faile. βWe will investigate this incident thoroughly to find out how this occurred and will take appropriate action as the results of the investigation indicate.β
