Loaded gun, marijuana seized during search of 2 cars at Lancaster SC school parking lot
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A loaded gun and marijuana were seized Tuesday when two student vehicles were searched at a high school in South Carolina, officials said.
Two students now face discipline and the possibility of criminal charges after the incident at Lancaster High School, according to a written statement from the Lancaster County School District, police, and Bryan Vaughn, director of transportation and safety for the school district.
The school district’s officials used a K-9 dog in the school’s parking lot during the search, which is part of the district’s safety program, Vaughn said. The dog alerted on the vehicles, Vaughn said.
Brian Small, acting chief of the Lancaster Police Department, said his officers received consent to search the first vehicle. A gun and material suspected to be drugs were found in the trunk of the vehicle, and were confiscated by police, Small said.
The investigation into that seizure is ongoing, Small said. A juvenile age 17 was released in the custody of adults, Small said.
In a second unrelated vehicle search, officials found marijuana after receiving consent to search, Small said. The student in that case is 18 years old, officials said said. That student was cited and released, Small said.
In a written statement, Lancaster school district officials said the search measures are used for school safety.
The statement said:
“While these two events are disappointing they did not occur inside the school. The weapon was inside a closed bag in a locked trunk. Furthermore, these illegal items were found through the proactive actions of the school district and our drug and weapon detection program. We hope that parents, students, and our community will find some solace in the fact that our work to detect weapons was successful.”
