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RIDGEWAY — A 12-year-old student brought a metal BB pistol to Geiger Elementary School on Feb. 12. When the school administrators learned of the incident, school resource officers and the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Department were notified and district procedures were followed.

Principal Myra Combs-Bramlett learned of the incident from students telling her that the student with the weapon was showing it to other students.

When questioned about having a gun, the youth stated that he did not have one. Per her right through the state of South Carolina to conduct a search on school grounds, Assistant Principal Roberta Heyward searched the student and found the metal BB gun in the his waistband.

School staff and school resource officers spoke to the student while the child’s mother was present. The child did not give a reason why he brought the weapon to school. He said he took the weapon from his sister’s friend. His mother was given information on programs available to help intervene with that type of problem behavior.

The incident was forwarded to Family Court and also dealt with according to the district’s code of conduct.

According to the Code of Conduct, bringing a weapon to school grounds qualifies as a Level Three Offense, which necessitates referral to administration, the parent being contacted, suspension pending expulsion hearing and required school resource officer notification/citation.

School Superintendent J.R. Green said while he could not comment specifically on how the student was disciplined, citing privacy concerns, he did comment in general about the seriousness of the situation.

“We take that incident very seriously. Any time there is something brought onto school grounds that could cause bodily harm to students, we take that very seriously indeed,” he said.

Green said a hearing will be held before Webster Anderson, director of the district’s office of special services, to determine the appropriate course of disciplinary action. As of press time that hearing had not yet been held. The final outcome remains to be determined, but Green said the incident would be handled according to district procedure.