Three 12-year-olds charged with having guns at Union County middle school

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By Ken Lemon and Mark Becker

ROCK HILL, S.C. — Three 12-year-olds have been charged with having weapons at a Union County middle school, officials told Channel 9.

Police said one of the students brought two guns to East Union Middle School, marking the third day that guns were recovered at a Charlotte-area school in the past week.

Deputies said a 12-year-old traded a.380 handgun to another student for a set of metallic knuckles.

Officials said one of the students was taken into custody and charged Wednesday for having a handgun on school property -- a loaded 9 mm -- which was given to him by the 12-year-old who brought in two guns.

The 9 mm was found at the child's home Thursday.

The student who distributed the guns faces two felony counts of possession of a firearm on educational property, two counts of possession of a firearm as a minor and one count of possession of a weapon on educational property for the metallic knuckles.

The juvenile will remain in a confinement facility pending a custody hearing, police said.

The other two students are charged with a felony count of possession of a firearm on educational property and a misdemeanor charge of possession of a firearm as a minor.

“We are very thankful for the students at East Union who had information about this very serious matter and they did the right thing by saying something," Union County Sheriff Eddie Cathey said. "Our school resource officer, working with the East Union school officials, acted quickly to seize the guns and remove the students from school. We are very serious about the safety of our students and school personnel.”

[Police ID student who brought loaded handgun to West Charlotte HS]

“They identified and located the student,” said Union County Sheriff's spokesman Tony Underwood. “They brought him into the office and that's when our officer began to question him.”

The arrest took place only hours after Rock Hill police found a loaded gun in the book bag of an 18-year-old student at Northwestern High School.

Tony Alexander Lopez, 18, had a 9mm Glock in his backpack at the school in Rock Hill, according to officials.

(Tony Alexander Lopez)

Last week, police arrested a student who brought a loaded gun to West Charlotte High School.

The principal at East Union Middle School sent parents a message Wednesday night urging them to talk to their children about the consequences of bringing weapons to school.

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