Rock Hill student with knife at school claimed he was nearly abducted at bus stop, police say
A middle school student in Rock Hill has been charged after police found a 7-inch folding knife in the student’s bookbag at school on Tuesday, officials said.
The male student is a 6th grader at Dutchman Creek Middle School, said Lt. Michael Chavis of the Rock Hill Police Department. The student was charged as a juvenile with illegal possession of a weapon on school grounds and petitioned to York County Family Court, Chavis said.
No students or staff were hurt, Chavis said.
It is a felony to have a weapon on school grounds under South Carolina law.
The school’s resource officer was notified Tuesday after school administrators searched a locker, responding to a report of a possible weapon on campus, according to a Rock Hill police incident report.
The student admitted to having the folding knife in his bookbag, according to police. The student then told officers that he had the knife because a man in a van had tried to grab him and asked him to get in the van the day before at a school bus stop, according to the report.
Rock Hill police have not been able to determine the veracity of the student’s claim of a potential abduction, Chavis said.
Rock Hill detectives found no report of an attempted abduction on Monday, Chavis said. Detectives then investigated the allegation the student made about being accosted and found no evidence of anyone attempting to abduct the child, Chavis said.
“Until the student made the claim, we had no report about anything at the bus stop,” Chavis said.
Chavis urged anyone who encounters something at a bus stop to tell an adult and call police immediately so it can be documented and investigated.
Rock Hill police investigated a report of an alleged abduction attempt of children who got off a school bus in October 2019. No charges were made in that case, Chavis said.
Tuesday’s charge against the boy at Dutchman Creek is the second in less than a week. On Thursday, Rock Hill police charged a different 6th grade student with making threats to bomb the school. The cases are unrelated, Chavis said.
