COLUMBUS – Columbus police have charged two teenagers with weapons-related offenses after they brought guns into their schools on Tuesday.
One of the students was arrested after he joked about having a gun inside Whetstone High School and authorities found a weapon was in his backpack shortly after 9:30 a.m., according to detectives with the Columbus police Gun Crimes Unit.
A student at East High School was found with a handgun and 33 rounds of ammunition in an extended-capacity magazine, police said.
Officers responded to Whetstone High School at approximately 9:33 a.m. after school staff stopped a student as he was arriving at school late and questioned him about his tardiness. Police say the student made a joke about being late because another student that was with him was showing him a handgun.
Both students were taken to the security office at which time the security officer located a loaded handgun loaded with three live rounds of ammunition inside a backpack that was being carried by a 17-year-old boy who admitted to possessing he handgun when he was questioned by a detective, police said.
School staff and security officers at East High School detained a 17-year-old student at approximately noon after receiving information from another person that the student was posting pictures on social media showing him in possession of a handgun, detectives with the Gun Crimes Unit said.
The student was taken to the security office where the security officer found a handgun inside the boy’s backpack.
The handgun was found to be loaded with 33 live rounds of ammunition in an extended gun magazine, detectives said.
The teen also admitted to possessing the handgun.
Both juveniles were charged with carrying a concealed weapon and conveying a firearm into a school zone.