3 teens charged with breaking into Beaufort Co. elementary school with gun, marijuana

Rachel Jones
·2 min read

One 12-year-old and two 16-year-olds were arrested Saturday on charges of breaking into Broad River Elementary School after hours with marijuana and a loaded pistol.

The three teenagers, who matched the descriptions of suspects in two other recent break-ins at the school, are being referred family court. Dates have not been set for their trials.

All three were charged with second-degree burglary and malicious injury to property. One was also charged with fleeing to evade arrest, unlawful carry, possession of a firearm by persons unlawful and possession of a firearm on school property. Another was charged with fleeing to evade arrest and simple possession of marijuana.

The burglary occurred after 6 p.m. Saturday, and was witnessed by a school administrator who was watching school security cameras. According to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report, the three teenagers were in a classroom “throwing things around inside.” In the classroom, hanging globes and a piñata were broken, trash was thrown on the floor and a smartboard had been covered in a “white substance.”

All three ran from the police, with one throwing a backpack into a dumpster before they were apprehended. The backpack recovered from the dumpster had “a gray Polymer 80, Glock 26 style 9mm pistol” in it, and one of the teens had an unsmoked marijuana blunt in a backpack he was carrying when he was arrested, according to the report.

Beaufort County School District spokesperson Candace Bruder said Tuesday that the district “continues to evaluate each of our schools’ security needs daily” and works with police. She declined to discuss any security changes being made at Broad River Elementary.

At least six weapons have been reported in Beaufort County schools this school year, including three firearms and a knife found in a Beaufort Elementary School bathroom in December. Eight schools have received shooting threats this school year, though seven of appeared to be part of a national trend following a December school shooting in Michigan.

According to the S.C. Department of Education’s annual report card, Beaufort County School District recorded only one incident of possession of a firearm or explosive on campus during the 2020-21 school year, while many students were learning remotely due to the pandemic.