Crime & Safety
UPDATE: Cartersville Police Investigating Gun Found At Middle School
The gun was found at Cartersville Middle School on April 21, but Cartersville police weren't notified of the incident until May 22.
The Cartersville Police Department is investigating how a handgun ended up in the possession of a 12-year-old student at a local school, a month after the incident originally occurred.
According to the agency, the child came into possession of the gun on April 21. However, the agency was not notified of the incident until Thursday, May 22.
Find out what's happening in Cartersvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Cartersville officer D.S. Veiga, who also serves as the resource officer for Cartersville High School, was approached on Thursday by Cartersville City Schools Assistant Superintendent Ken Clouse, who asked the officer how he could return a firearm in his possession back to its original owner, according to an incident report released by the Cartersville Police Department.
The officer told Clouse he would run serial number to find the owner, which the officer did. However, the officer discovered the pistol was one of 36 stolen from an Ashburn-based Federal Firearms License dealer.
Find out what's happening in Cartersvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The officer took possession of the weapon, which is a silver and black Bryco Arms Jennings Nine 9mm pistol with serial No. 1515874.
Clouse told the officer a teacher on April 21 discovered the weapon in the backpack of a student, and notified Cartersville Middle School Principal Jeff Hogan.
Hogan removed the weapon from the backpack and secured it in a location until a tribunal was held on May 1. The student was expelled and referred to an alternative school.
The pistol was then given to Clouse after the tribunal. Clouse told the officer the pistol had no magazine in its well, and there were no bullets inside the handgun the day it was discovered.
Along with securing the weapon in its evidence drop box, Cartersville police has also made its Criminal Investigations Unit and the Catersville-Bartow Drug Task Force Unit aware of the incident.
Along with Veiga, the system's middle school resource officer also was not made aware of the incident, according to the incident report.
Patch has reached out to the Cartersville City School System for comment, and is waiting to hear back.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
