PASQUOTANK, N.C. A high school student in North Carolina has been arrested after it was discovered he was carrying a rifle with a loaded magazine on a school bus, a sheriff’s office confirmed.
During a Wednesday news conference, Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten said the student was carrying a pistol-grip AK-47 with a loaded 30-round magazine. The student’s identity was not revealed, but the sheriff said he was a minor, WRAL reported.
The bus containing the suspect was carrying students from Northeastern High School and River Road Middle School. It stopped at the middle school about 9:20 a.m. Wednesday, the sheriff said.
As the middle school students exited the bus, the driver summoned an assistant principal after detecting the odor of marijuana on the student, according to authorities.
Subsequent to their observations, the school resource officer conducted a search and discovered the weapon along with some marijuana, Fox News reported.
It was not clear how the weapon was concealed and whether the loaded magazine was inserted in the rifle with or without a round chambered.
The suspect was taken into custody and the school placed on lockdown while law enforcement personnel conducted a protective sweep, Wooten said.
The student is facing several charges, according to the sheriff.
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